I Am Puppet
by APurpleAvacado
Summary: Shikacentric. Naturally, parents are quite protective but what happens when that protectiveness stands in the way of what is concidered to be a 'normal' childhood. Yoai. Mild violence. Schoolfic. Please don't kill me.
1. Education

Authors note: Hey, I just thought I'd let you know, this is the start of my very first KibaShika, so please be nice about it? This chapter is Shikacentric as is most of the story, although sometimes might tell it from someone else's POV, but I'll try not to do that I a lot. I'd just like to say, it varies from first to third person xD. I warn thee of slight language.

- - POVs - -  
- - ',' - - end POVs

"Mendokuse"—Translation—"Troublesome"

Disclaimer: I don't own Shikamaru or Kiba, but I DO own a pair of socks, you want 'em?

I Am Puppet;

Chapter one: Education.

_Within an instant, his father's hand was slammed down upon his head, and the boy cried out in pain in a useless call for reprieve. His resulting wails of torment continued to go unheard as his body was yanked gruffly up by his hair, and his well damaged face was brought only inches away from his father's; his feet swung limply in the air. Tears stained his face, he was shaking uncontrollably, he couldn't breathe, and his body seemed bruised and broken beyond repair. Another fist connected with his jaw for the millionth time that morning just before his head connected with the wall. His body fell to an increasingly familiar spot on the floor with a muffled thud. _

_His world went black._

The school bell rang, and students emptied the hallways in favour of their individual home rooms, some quicker then others and others louder than most. The usual laughing, shouting, and quiet conversing were all still going on as select students filed into home room 1B to stand behind their desks and wait for their sensei to arrive. Paper wads flew in all directions, the obnoxious giggling from the hallway carried on in every corner, and general conversation filled in the blanks.

Classroom 1B was a far less than colourful place to be taught. The floor, unlike the tile that was in the hallways and most rooms, was covered in a cheap, ugly green carpet that had long since faded with age and had worn so thin that it was threadbare in some places, revealing the thick concrete floors beneath. The chairs were of an equally simple design, and the students' tables were far from noteworthy apart from the occasionally artistic piece of graffiti. The back wall of the classroom was home to a large display board, while the front of the room had a massive whiteboard, which was blank except for a few spots where the marker's ink had smeared and left behind imprints of math problems, due dates of class projects, lists of students scheduled for after-school clean up (as well as detention), and the like.

Seated squarely in front of the white board was the teacher's desk, which was lined with stacks of neatly and meticulously sorted papers and manilla folders. Two black plastic trays were placed at the far right corner to be used for student's completed papers. Only a man with a death wish would step foot near that desk without a damn good reason.

The door to the classroom swung open smoothly, and the select few well behaved students who noticed the movement sighed, and stopped talking. Slowly, their sensei entered the room, standing just inside the door, and cleared her throat. She glared silently for a moment, and when she saw that she had gotten the incorrect response from her rowdy students, she offered them a slightly more politely than necessary second chance. "May I have everyone's attention, please."

It wasn't a question.

About a handful more of her students acknowledged her presence and became silent. Most however, were still causing an uproar. "Quiet!" She shouted in a piercingly clear voice, stunning the remaining students into submission. Smiling sweetly, her tone returned to normal, as if nothing had ever happened to upset her. "Okay then! I'm sorry I'm late; you can all sit down now."

As the class settled themselves down into their seats, she heard many whispers of 'When did Kurenai-sensei get here?' and 'She scared the crap outta' me…'. She cleared her throat once more, and spoke gravely, "Obviously, there is a very good reason why I'm late," she paused and went back into super-cheery mode, "…and here he is!" She beckoned her 'reason' into the classroom with a warm smile.

"Class, this-" Kurenai gestured to the stunning young man with messy, dark-brown hair who had stepped into the classroom on a perfect cue, "is Inuzuka Kiba. He's new here to Konoha Academy, so he'll be--" She paused along with the rest of the class when loud, hurried footsteps echoed out through the hallways and into the dull classroom.

Kurenai sighed audibly when another student of hers stumbled into the classroom. He leant heavily against the doorway with his chest heaving, "S-sorry," he huffed, "I just…couldn't get here…fast enough." He let his breath catch up with him and inhaled deeply, clutching his chest as he did so. He continued to pant tiredly, '_I really, really couldn't…_' Feeling lacking, the boy dragged his feet a little farther into the classroom, but stood still.

She shook her head and sighed simultaneously, "Evidently so, Nara-k-…Nara-kun!!"

As Shikamaru had stepped deeper into the classroom, Kurenai, along with the rest of the class, was given full view of his shaking body and badly injured face. There was a large, darkening almost purple bruise among his usually calm and graceful features, and, if she was correct, there were small specks of dried blood covering his face along with many tiny cuts, and a significant amount of blood coming from the corner of his mouth, possibly more that had came from his busted lip.

"What…what happened to your face? What happened to _you_?!" She gulped, and hurried over to fuss over him. She pulled a tissue from the box on the corner of her desk and began to wipe blood of his face. The class collectively snickered.

"U-Uhm…" his face turned a little redder as he tried stutter a made up story, but he couldn't get all that much out, "…m-my cousin, he…doesn't know his own strength…" Shikamaru laughed nervously and offered his sensei the tiniest of forced smiles, bringing his hand to his face, gingerly covering the most obvious wound on his face. Kurenai-sensei looked at him with a raised eyebrow, followed by an expression that was full of an unintended, hurtful pity, but pity none the less. She allowed him fully into the classroom, and pointed to an empty seat.

At this point, conversation had once again risen amongst friends, because the teacher had returned her attention to the new student. Hurriedly, Shikamaru made his way to the back of the classroom to sit in one of the only available seats left. He inwardly frowned when he heard whispers of his name when he walked by, which were accompanied almost religiously by insults and snickers; Kami, he hated this place.

Even more snide remarks were tossed into the air as he moved past: insults, cat calls, and the like. One overly ambiguous call made him stop in his tracks, and glower at a small bunch of people he really couldn't care less about.

"Hey, Freaky-Shiki!" A group of about five people laughed as Shikamaru turned to them, but all he did was scowl.

"What?" he snapped.

The group continued their pompous laughter and gave each other sideways grins. "So, what _really_ happened to your face?" His scowl only deepened.

Shikamaru growled, "It's too troublesome to repeat myself." With that, he turned back towards the empty desk behind the gaggle of idiots. The group snickered again as their self appointed leader stuck his foot out from underneath his table, tripping Shikamaru, who gave a surprised yelp as he fell to the floor, only to be supported by his violently shaking hands and knees; a slightly more than laughable position for someone in his…'position'. Needless to say, almost the entire class roared with laughter.

"Are you sure it wasn't your boyfriend?" They passed around high-fives amongst themselves and almost literally patted their leader on his back, as if it were the cleverest damn thing he had ever said.

Kurenai and Kiba had stopped talking and discussing his new schedule about the same time the 'freaky-Shiki' comment was thrown out there. She leaned onto one foot, put all of her weight into one hip, and glared daggers at everyone in the room except Kiba and Shikamaru. Sadly, no one seemed to get the hint.

"Mm-hmm. So it's going to be like that, huh?" Kurenai's face turned absolutely deadly; she hated being ignored. "Well," she picked up her largest teacher's guide and held it out an arms length away. She raised it up high above her head, but her actions continued to go unnoticed. "Inuzuka-kun, would you be a dear and cover up your ears for me? This'll only take a second."

Having only been in school only a few minutes and already deathly afraid of his new home room teacher, he decided it was best to be on her good side, and immediately obeyed.

"Good." She smiled at him serenely before walking over, and throwing the book down on to the small group's table with all her might.

WHAM!

And with the fall of the book, Shikamaru fell flat onto his bottom and stayed exactly where he was, frozen to the floor, not wanting to get in the way of any of this, to just sit back and watch it.

The entire class had frozen as well, but all had their gaze locked onto Kurenai.

Their sensei was going red in the face, and the class could have only presumed her voice was so loud, it probably carried over a few buildings. "How dare you? All of you! Where in Konoha have any of you, any _one_ of you, ever gotten the nerve to victimize a fellow student like that?! You're all a disgrace to this academy, and you're doing nothing but bringing more disgrace upon yourselves! I don't want to ever, and I mean ever," she looked to the one's who had called him 'freaky-Shiki', "hear a single one of you," her glare at the boy who had tripped him clearly read 'death', "talk about a-n-y-o-n-e like that again!" Her view widened to span the entire class. "You hear me?!"

"Why oh why, on God's green earth, do you even listen to those rumours anyway?! Are you just going to believe everything you hear?! And what could possibly convince you to actually physically harm someone over some nonsense you heard in the locker rooms or during lunch?! You don't even know-!…"

Kurenai had to stop herself there, because she wasn't about to shout 'you don't even know if he's gay!' to the heavens above. She knew, of course, that that'd only make things worse and embarrass Shikamaru even more.

The class collectively blinked in a stunned confusion, shocked at their sensei's first explosion in weeks. It wasn't often Kurenai lost her cool, but when she did she was terrifying. That being said, unpredictable mood swings still weren't 'out of character' for her. They'd like to say that they were all used to it by now, but her outbursts never became any less frightening.

The boy who had been resting on the ground for several minutes, lost in thought, continued to stare dazedly at his sensei. So lost, in fact, he failed to notice the rush of cool air in his face or the new, nameless figure that had hurried to his side after the extended pause following Kurenai's screeching who was now towering over him. Shikamaru blinked once or twice as his thoughts returned to the present, and after just another moment longer he made to stand. He gasped as a smooth, warm hand gripped his arm.

For the second time that morning, the world stopped turning and the class gaped at the bold move on Shikamaru, which was made by none other than class 1B's newest addition.

Shikamaru's head shot up immediately upon contact to just what exactly had grabbed him.

"…Need a hand?"

Shikamaru's eyes followed up the tan arm gripping his, and his ears followed a pleasant, yet unfamiliar voice. It was another student, about his age but very different in appearance. For one thing, the boy was much cuter than—

Shikamaru's eyes widened at the thought.

_"…you disgusht me, boy!…" The deep, slurred voice of his father echoed through the house as he moved with a slight stagger into Shikamaru's room. Slowly, he backed his way into the corner of his room like a scared puppy with its tail between its legs, wanting to disappear into the walls of his prison. _

_…but he had always known it was hopeless._

_The man he called father was here to see him again, and he wasn't just passing through._

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed and without missing a beat, he withdrew his arm from the other boy's hands as quickly as he could, and began to cradle it against his chest as if it were broken, which it might have very well been.

"N-no, I'm fine!" he hissed sharply, "Just don't touch me!!"

He raised himself up so quickly, he nearly hit his head on the table in front of him. In a flash, he was off to his seat with the sleeves of his oversized dark gray shirt pulled down neatly over his hands.

Kiba was only the tiniest bit stupefied by Shikamaru's reaction to help, and he nearly jumped three feet in the air when his new sensei whispered in a low, grave tone right next to his ear.

"I should have warned you about him, he…" Kurenai paused solemnly, unsure of how to phrase it without giving away details even she didn't know.

"…has a bit of 'thing' about…physical contact…"

Kiba turned his head swiftly over his shoulder, and over to Shikamaru who's eyes were aimed down at his desk, impossible to see. What was very obvious though was the way he shook and tried to hide his flushed, sweating face. He was surprised no one else was watching him; the rest of the class was ignoring both the trembling Shikamaru and Kurenai's whispers.

He turned back around slowly with a frown, but nodded. And with that, Kurenai gave him a sweet smile and clapped her hands on his shoulders, spinning him around to face the class.

"Okay!" she chirped happily, "Who wants to be in charge of looking after Inuzuka-kun?"

"I will."

A single hand rose on the middle right of the room, and the whole class craned their necks to see who it was. A few people only turned around because they didn't recognize the voice, and the instant the speaker was found, the unending tide of whispers began.

"Thank you very much," Kurenai's smile broadened, "Aburame-kun."

She leant down and whispered into Kiba's ear again, "You're very lucky; Shino-kun doesn't interact often."

Shino turned his head in Kiba's direction expectantly, mostly because with his sunglasses you couldn't see where he was looking, but didn't say a word. Kurenai gave the somewhat reluctant Kiba a kind smile and a gentle shove in his direction.

In the back of the classroom, Shikamaru sat with his head buried in his arms, trying to rest, and on the outside of his self-made fortress, he heard a familiarly apathetic sigh.

"So, how's the great pretender doing today?"

"Shut it, Gaara," Shikamaru sat up properly and rubbed his eyes. His slight grimace lightened itself into a bored frown. "I'm not in the mood." He could almost feel the relaxed, sea foam green eyes roll.

"You never are." There was a pause, and Gaara carefully inspected what he could see of Shikamaru's body while Shikamaru looked off in a different direction, trying to pretend that none of today ever happened. "So…what did he do this time?"

Shikamaru sighed sadly. He was the only one who knew the whole story. Gaara was never told; he usually just gave a…very accurate, very detailed, very correct guess. It made him a little happier knowing that even though he had figured so much out, that he could still call Gaara a friend. Shikamaru turned his eyes as far away from Gaara's as possible.

"Not here."

Of course, Gaara knew that 'not here' was just another way of saying 'not ever', but he simply nodded and began digging through his bag, a sandy-brown messenger bag with a silhouette of what resembled a green-brown hour glass on the front. Shikamaru sighed again and looked at his own resting at his feet, like Gaara's it was an over the shoulder bag except it was forest green with a red swirl on the front.

"Your arm?" Gaara glanced up at Shikamaru in a futile attempt to get a damage report.

"Hurts." Shikamaru quickly busied himself with his bag as well, trying to change the subject, or at least stop having to talk.

He jumped in his seat and winced in pain as the bell rang, signalling the end of homeroom. 'I didn't even get to sleep,' he thought glumly. Gaara joined him as he prepared to leave the classroom. Both swung their bags over their shoulders and making for the door, Gaara brushing the invisible lint of his red button-up shirt as he went.

_He had given up crying, He had gotten that out of his head a long time ago. No one heard his crying. No one heard his screaming. No one would help him, not here, at least. Not in this hell, his hell. Instead he was reduced to a whimpering mass on the floor as the fists flew at him. He only tried to block the blows to his face…he just didn't want everyone… to stare… _

- -Shikamaru- -

Wow. This has got to be a new record. I'm only half an hour into my morning and it's already shit. Seriously, I'm getting so tired of everything. My school, my family, my life…I wish this entire day would just hurry up and end. At home this morning was… better than usual. I thought today was going to be a god send, but no. A new guy has to show up and touch me.

…

Okay, I just realized how stupid that sounded, but that's beside the point. It's not his fault I'm covered in bruises. It's not his fault my body is so sensitive (again, stupid, but beside the point). It's not his fault I'm always hurt so badly, and it's not his fault I can't have people touching me. He's not the one at fault here. I am.

I walk slowly through the hallways, hoping no one else notices my limp or the way I wince every time someone knocks into me, sending pain throughout my entire body. Gaara's keeping straight ahead of me, going at a slow, leisurely pace. I'm not sure if he does it on purpose like if he knows he's doing it. Y'know, because he knows that trying to go through the cramped hallways too fast will result in bumping into way too many people for me to handle. Maybe he knows that I hate running, or maybe he's just walking slow because he feels like it. Either way, I'm thankful.

Another person bumps into me, hard, I almost say something or yell, but I just bite my lip and let it go. My grip on the binder I'm carrying gets tighter; who's to say I won't drop it if someone else hits me?

I grunt and sigh when I remember what the first class of the day is; Math, which I sadly do not have with Gaara. I guess Gaara remembered this before I did because he's lead me there already. We face each other, nod, and go our separate ways.

I wander over to the table in the back of the class that's closest to the window and sit down. Staring out the window is one of my more fascinating hobbies, so I always try to get the window seat. Watching the clouds go by calms me down, and I find myself imagining what it'd be like to float by carelessly like they do, or to at least lay down in the grass and nap. I know I haven't done that in long time. We do get about an hour long break during the school day for lunch, and going outside then isn't unusual for most students. It's just lying down out there is like walking up to someone and asking for them to stomp on you; god forbid you try to sleep.

There's shuffling beside me, and a quiet apology. Whoever it is must have thought they woke me up. I blink and mumble a small greeting as I turn around, but it takes me a moment to remember her face. I…can't completely recall her name though. Guess I'm just not with it today. She smiles a tiny, curt smile at me, and I can't help but notice the faint blush on her cheeks. Taking the seat next to me, she runs her hand through her short, bluish hair and smiles again.

I turn back to the window.

It's not like I'm ignoring her or anything. It's just…too troublesome to make small talk. I think she knows that, because she continues about her business without getting offended. My frown lightens when I remember her name. She's Hyuuga Hinata. I guess the first place I met her would have to be the library here; she works there as a student librarian. She's one of my closer friends, so she understands me more than most people at this school. In fact, I'd have to say she's one of my closest friends, aside from Akimichi Chouji. I'd never tell _them_ about Chouji though. Ever. Not in a million years. They're just…difficult about other guys hanging out with me.

_Especially_ the ones that hang out with me.

It's one of the many reasons Hinata's been the only one to ever see the inside of my house before, even if it was only that one time. Her cousin though…he was pretty troublesome about it. Her cousin, Hyuuga Neji, threatened me to be absolutely sure I wasn't using Hinata. He left me alone after that, except for the occasional death-glare here and there.

I take a quick glance at the door. Hayate-sensei hasn't arrived yet, and quite frankly, I couldn't care less.

Hinata's talking to Shino now. I'm not really listening to the conversation, and I doubt Shino's even talking all that much, but I just like the back ground noise. It's kind of soothing. As I continue to watch their one-sided communications, I notice that Shino dragged one of his other friends over here too.

His friend is obnoxious, in my opinion, and ridiculously popular, though doesn't even try. I'm not even kidding; he steps one foot in school and his fan club will pop out of no where to roll out the red carpet. His name escapes me though…it's Uchiha something. Sasuke, I think. Yeah, him.

I sigh and rest my chin in my hand as I look over the classroom. The new kid, Kiba, is talking to that pink haired girl, Haruno Sakura. If I had to guess I'd say she was only talking to him so she could be one of Sasuke's 'friends-by-association'. Y'know, because she knows Kiba's hanging out with Shino who hangs out with Sasuke. Personally, I don't see what's so fascinating about him. I mean, I'll admit he is attractive, but–…

Point is, other than his looks, Sasuke's got nothin'. I think he has a bit of a personality complex, actually.

I blink confusedly when I see another person standing next to Sakura and Kiba, but he's not really saying anything. When did he get there? Seriously, I don't even remember him walking in the door, much less getting all the way to the other side of the class. It's like he came out of no where. He looks a lot like Sasuke, actually, but according to practically every girl at school, 'No one can measure up to Sasuke-kun's greatness!'

"Sas-kay!!"

Oh dear god. I turned around just in time to see the most boisterous blonde in the world locking her arms around Sasuke's neck. Sasuke, although he may not look it, is radiating anger. No surprise there.

As expected, Sakura started throwing a hissy fit, and Kiba is having to hold her back, which appears very difficult since she keeps lunging forward. "Get-…! Off--," she was flailing like a drowning bird in an attempt to get out of Kiba's grasp, "…of Sasuke! Ino-pig!"

Oh yes, it was Yamanaka Ino, Sakura's arch rival in this absurd competition for Sasuke's affections, which neither of them will ever win. It's actually quite funny (and sad) that they're only people that don't know it. Well, it's not that he's gay, which is my theory, at least, but the fact that they'll try so blatantly to win him over; it's laughable. No one tries. And personally, I think that it's too troublesome to deal with love. Whatever that is. But seriously, to just try as hard as they do is pathetic.

"Jealous now, billboard-brow?" Ino snickered. She's probably started to cut off Sasuke's air supply. Just lovely. Will I ever get to sleep?

I smile to myself for the first time in awhile when I hear the rustling of a plastic bag. My smile widens even more when I see the owner of said plastic bag, which isn't a plastic bag at all, but rather a bag of chips, barbecue flavour. He wanders over as I get my books out of my bag and set them on my desk.

"Hey, Shikamaru." It's Chouji, thank god. Finally, a decent conversation.

"Hi, Chouji." I reply curtly.

Just as I was about to start up an enlightening conversation with Chouji, Sakura and Ino's screaming match escalates, and Sakura's knocked over at least one chair. Sasuke looks absolutely murderous, although he doesn't really show it, I can tell. But I don't blame him. Anyone would with Ino screeching in his ear. Kiba's clearly getting tired out. I don't really have much hands on experience, but I'm guessing it takes a lot to hold back an angry fan girl.

"…mendokuse…" I grumble, getting to my feet.

I amble over to the origin of the noise with my hands in my pockets and my usual lazy expression on my face, Chouji following right behind me. Ino and Sakura are still bickering, Sasuke is a little closer to the edge, and Kiba…well…he's struggling, let's put it that way. We stop, Chouji to my right and another crowd of people behind us, watching every lunge and listening intently to every insult. I mutter nonsensically to myself as my head turns back and forth watching the less than original belittlements fly.

"Ino-pig."

"Billboard-brow!"

"Ino-pig!!"

"Billboard-brow!!"

I roll my eyes in disdain. "So…what are you two fighting about again?"

I let a small smirk cross my face when they look at each other quizzically. "Uhm…" Ino mumbles. It's just as I thought. They don't even remember. Are all girls like this? Do they always have to fight? I swear some of them pick fights just to yell. Lucky for my mum she doesn't have to pick a fight to get one.

"Well," says Sakura, "I kinda forget…but it was Ino's fault!!" She lunges forward again. Having let his guard down when the girls shut up, Kiba lost his grip on Sakura. But with amazing speed, Kiba follows Sakura's movements through and his chest collides with her back again before he tightens his arms around her. He grunts in discomfort. "Idiot," Sakura mumbles under her breath, thinking no one can hear her. And if I can hear her, what makes her think Kiba couldn't? She's the idiot here. But Ino's no better.

"My fault?!" Ino yells "You can't even remember what we were fighting about! So what makes you think it's my fault, billboard-brow?!"

"Shut up, Ino-pig!"

I grumble to myself lowly. How on earth do women manage shit like this? I seriously do not have enough patience for these two. "Shut the hell up! Both of you!!"

The pair froze exactly where they were and everyone in the classroom looked at me, most of them seem pretty alarmed.

Oh. Has anyone ever heard me yell like that before? Eh, another matter for another time. "Ino. Get off Uchiha." In no time flat, her arms were at her sides and she was a good three feet away from Sasuke. "And Sakura, get a grip already!"

"On Sasuke?" she chirped hopefully.

"On some self-restraint." I dead panned. Sakura was taken aback. So much so in fact, that she stumbled backwards into Kiba and this time mumbled 'sorry'.

"B-but, Shika-kun…" Ino rushed to stand in front of me.

I stepped back before she could close enough to touch me. She did this crap a lot when she was trying to get her way. Apparently, it works on every boy in the world except me, Shino, Sasuke, Gaara (she wouldn't dare try it on him), and all of Kiba's inevitably soon-to-be friends.

"We love Sasuke, and he won't date either of us!"

I raise an eyebrow quizzically at this. And they expect me to fix that…how, exactly? Ino looks at me, and I mean she's actually looking at me. Not just that either, she's kicked it up a notch with the big, innocent eyes and her hands clasped together under her chin. She was begging. Oh god, not this. Anything but this. You'd have to be heartless to ignore that look! God, I wish I was a cold bastard like Sasuke. He'd resist. He could resist anything!

I caved.

I sigh, and give the ceiling a look that says 'kill me now'. "Mendokuse…fine."

I look back down at the now buddy-buddy pair, and they both look ecstatic. "I'll talk to Sasuke. Go sit down." They almost instantly arrive at Sakura's desk and sit down…the one directly across from Sasuke.

I glare at the beaming idiots and point them to the other side of the room, near Hinata. "…over there." Pouting all the way, they stand up and walk over to Hinata and begin chatting with her aimlessly.

Poor Hinata. I'll have to apologize later. I gesture for Chouji to come closer.

"Chouji, keep an eye on them, while I 'talk' to Sasuke; you know what to do if they start fighting." He nods and goes over to watch over the two drama queens.

I turn to Sasuke, who pins me with an icy glare. I frown, but having grown immune to its effectiveness, I pull up a chair and sit across from him with my back turned to the girls. Kiba sits down at the table too, but I couldn't care less if he's here or not. It makes no difference.

Sasuke raises a brow. "What?"

I begin with a sigh. "Here's the deal. You're going to sit here and listen to my 'proposition'." I let my tone indicate what I mean, what I mean being bullshit. "Which I am saying right now," it takes Sasuke a minute, but he picks up on what I'm hinting at and nods in agreement, "and as soon as I mention their names, I want you to say the worst possible thing you can think about them."

Kiba, I notice, looks upset. For the girls, maybe? I bet he thinks this whole deal is cruel…oh well. They'll get over it. All three of them.

He nods again. "I see," he stays silent for a moment. "And how do you suggest we do this...?"

"Well," I say quickly, "they'll get one date with you, so all you have to do is pick which one you want to take. Ino or Sakura?"

"Okay, so now that I've listened to your proposition," he narrows his eyes at me for effect, "what makes you think I'd want to date either of those mindless harpies?!" he asked with an extra icy edge. I nod and stand when I hear the both of them wailing dramatically.

"Sorry to bug you." I half whisper before sauntering away.

"Who's the fa-"

I pause when I hear Kiba's voice and my hand is over his mouth in one second flat. I could've sworn that on my way around, I saw Chouji's ear twitch. Then again, I might just be seeing things. But can you really blame me? I glare daggers at the new kid.

"A word for the wise: taboo. Never ever say _that_ word around Chouji." I hiss lowly. Kiba looked to Shino for help to find him in total agreement with me. No surprise there.

"Did someone say something?" Chouji asked. His eyes narrowed in suspicion as he watched me and Kiba like a hawk. I shook my head, and release Kiba, frowning lightly at him as I turn to face Chouji.

"Kiba just thought you had a fabulous shirt!" I smile, and emphasize my words for Kiba's benefit. Chouji nodded in acceptance, and I walk back to my desk slowly, stopping in front of the wailing pair. With as much indifference I could fit in there, I confirm their nightmare.

"He said no." And they just kept on wailing, almost holding on to each other for support.

Now I can finally get some fucking slee—

The door opened with a loud series of coughs, and I groaned.

"Sorry," cough, "I got held," hack, "up in a," wheeze, "meeting." More coughing, "Now if you'll just turn to page one hundred and three in you books…" I groan when Ino moves to the seat next to guy that had came out of no where earlier, who happened to be sitting just in front of me.

"Sai-kun," she says sweetly, "can you move across one so I can sit down?" Ino keeps smiling, and he returns it, forcibly too. Sai isn't actually all that bad. It's a shame he's socially retarded.

"Of course, pi-" I curse lightly and knock my books into the floor.

"Sai," I say quickly, "can you get my books for me, please?" He nods and gathers them quickly. I breath a sigh of relief; god knows what would've happened if he finished that sentence... I thank Sai when he puts the books back on my desk, and I lean back in my chair.

"What was that you were saying again, Sai-kun?" Ino asks with the tell-tale predatory gleam in her eyes.

Sai scoots over a seat like he promised, "I said 'Of course pi'!" I lean forwards quickly.

"Sai! I think you left my pen on the floor!" I say hastily. He gets the picture and leans down to find the pen that I 'dropped'. "You know what? I'll help you look!" I say with a smile. I get down on my hands and knees and jerk Sai's collar, setting him with a glare. I hiss lowly, "Don't you dare finish that sentence."

He looks at me quizzically, and turns his head towards his shoulder like a child. "Why?"

"Sai, I know you have an odd obsession with the word 'penis', so I'm going to say this in a way even you'll understand; if you finish that sentence the way you were going to, you won't have a penis anymore." Sai nods and gets back on his chair. Ino stares at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I was just saying 'of course pretty lady'!" Ino blushed. Good.

Crisis averted.

- - ',' - -

There didn't seem to be any other incidents like that morning, and there wasn't much else worth exposing at the moment. However, as Shikamaru arrived at his house, he called out to his mother to let her know he was home, almost knowing what he'd receive the instant he stepped over the threshold.

He'd receive a frown, a glare, and he was almost certain that he was about to receive only so much more.

_He closed the door behind him with a barely audible 'click'. 'Maybe they won't bother with me today if I'm quiet…' he thought hopefully. But his mother was already right behind him with an ominous, unfeeling glare. "You're late…" she hissed angrily. Shikamaru froze, unwilling to say_ _or do anything. He knew nothing good would come of it._

His mother, as unlikely as it may seem, greeted him with a smile and a warm, yet discomforting hug, which sent Shikamaru's mind into a whirl of confusion. 'Since when does this happen? Did something happen? What's going on?' His head felt like it was spinning. 'What's up with her today? Is something wrong? What did I…what did I do? What did I do?! Wait, what didn't I do? Did…did I possibly…could I have possibly done something right for once?! But that's impossible! They always find something wro-…I mean, I always do something wrong…'

"_S-sorry," Shikamaru began, "K-Kurenai-sen--" his sentence was finished prematurely with a quick, but lasting flash of pain in his cheek. His mother just stood there, slowly lowering her hand back to her side with a hardened glare. He had a chance to leave, but he didn't dare move for fear of feeling his mother's scorn. So, he stood there, silent, like a good child would_

"Shikamaru!" she tightened her hug. "I'm so proud of you!" Shikamaru couldn't speak. He couldn't move. What if he said something wrong? What if he did something stupid to ruin his mother's good mood? She held Shikamaru just far away from herself to see his face, and likewise for him. She was…smiling. Had he ever seen her smile? "The academy called this morning!"

"_Don't you dare blame your teachers, you filthy boy!" she screeched furiously, "I already know who's fault it was!" He rose up his arms for protection; the last thing he wanted was for his mother to grab hold him and hurt him worse than he already was. People might see…_

"They said you stopped a fight!" He offered her a small nod before she pulled him back into the hug.

Shikamaru sighed.

"Guess so…"

(A/N: Okay, this is my new creation, special thanks to **Kitsunecubby**, as she is my very special Beta and I love her, not in that way, obviously. Anyways I hope you liked it, I know it's not very exciting just yet but I promise it gets better. I'm never any good at the first chapter of anything. It took me god knows how long to even decide to write it... I really want to know what you think about it! Please sugar-coat the badness)

(A/N: Yeah...I know it's a schoolfic...I really couldn't think of any other way to make this story work. So, if you don't like schoolfic's and you decided to investigate, work with me here, please?)

((B/N: Awe, she loves me:D But would anyone like to tell me what she means by 'very special'? Like, 'cupcake with rainbow sprinkles' special or like '…Sai…' special?))


	2. Misconceptions

Authors note: Well, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. I know I enjoyed writing it, I know it was long but it couldn't be helped. I want to make a few things clear. This is set in the Naruverse, but without the Ninja-ness, meaning it still has the same faces and place but not the same basic plot.

- - POVs - -

- - ','- - End POVs

Disclaimer: I currently do not own Shikamaru or Kiba but soon, I shall RULE THE ANIME KINGDOM! cough Sorry...I sometimes have bouts of insanity...

I Am Puppet;

Chapter Two: Misconceptions

Upon arriving home just an hour before, Shikamaru's mother, Yoshino, sent him upstairs to his room promptly. It was unusual for him, to say the least. More often than not, Yoshino would watch him like a hawk until he'd finished every assignment he had been given, even if said assignment was a project not due for a month or more.

With a heavy sigh, the boy with ash-brown hair left his mother's decision to her to ponder, and let the 'good deed' go underplayed. If he'd known playing pissed off peacemaker would be so…rewarding, then he'd have done it sooner. But still, he would have to be a complete moron to take his mother's new-found trust for granted.

Moving over to a plain wooden desk that was situated by the one, dreary window in his drastically under decorated room, he settled himself glumly on a squeaky rolling desk chair, dragging his forest green bag along with him. He set a frown on his face and his homework journal on the desk before him to make sure he knew what he was doing. He searched through his bag for the various pieces homework he had to do, and removed a generic art pad, flipping through to a blank page. Sure, he wasn't a huge fan of art, but when it came down to it, art was something he could relax into. Even the sensei in that class was a mellow guy.

He scanned the page of his homework journal that was facing upward. The task? Draw a tree. Why a tree? The students in Shikamaru's art class were ahead of the other periods by a whole section (if not grade level) and were already knee deep in the 'Drawing from Life' chapter – drawing inanimate objects that are within a tangible distance, not from something like a photograph and not to be confused with 'Life Drawings', which is when one is faced with the rather complicated task of drawing his fellow ma-…human being, in the nude.

A few moments later and the scratching of pencil on paper became prominent in the room. Considering it was the only thing in the bleak room (besides Shikamaru's soft, annoyed huffs when he didn't get something on the paper absolutely perfect) that appealed to any of the five senses, Shikamaru was hardly surprised.

He'd been using the tree in his neighbour's garden for a model; the exact angle he wanted was luckily the one from his bedroom window. It was a strong looking oak, and other than the bits of bark that had been stripped of its trunk and strewn out on the grass, most likely by the neighbour's or their neighbours' children, it was perfect.

Against his better judgement, Shikamaru put his work on hold for a moment and stared longingly at the world outside his bedroom window. His glassy eyed gaze was locked on a pair of critters as they scampered their way around the base of the seemingly gentle oak tree chasing one another. The furry creatures reached for each other's tails but always missed their fluffy targets. Eventually, one ran into the other and the two toppled over and rolled through the grass, rustling dry leaves as they went on in their innocent game.

He sighed and rolled his eyes simultaneously.

'_Look at me, jealous of a couple of squirrels.' _Shikamaru glanced half-heartedly at his work, noting with disdain that he wasn't even halfway through it. Still, his eyes wondered back to the sky, wishing so hard that it was almost pathetic. Wishing, that he could be out there breathing in deeply the fresh air he longed for. But even that wouldn't be enough.

'_It would be…_everything _would be just so much better if I were free, like a cloud,'_ he thought sorrowfully to himself.

He turned back to the desk and his sketch slowly. Picking up his pencil he scoffed lightly to himself, mentally_. 'Like MY parents would ever let me loose on the streets. Kami knows what they think I'd do…'_

Shikamaru continued to stare into space for just a moment longer until he realized his train of thought had gotten lost along the way for a third time. Quickly, he picked up the pace and began shading in his creation, occasionally glancing at the sickly green numbers on his digital clock. He figured his mother would be due to come up and check on him soon, doubtlessly with his father in tow. But, thankfully, if his clock was correct, he should have enough time to finish his work before his father arrived home from work. Silence reigned in the room once again, and the light scratchings of a pencil echoed through what was otherwise empty room, all that there was to be heard.

* * *

It was early in the evening, and Shikamaru knew he only had a few moments of undisturbed peace remaining. It was highly unlikely that he'd get off injury free this evening, but there could still be a chance…

There was a gentle, uniform knocking at the door, and Shikamaru jumped in his seat, hastily swivelling around to answer it. The wooden divider slid open slowly before Yoshino poked her head into the bland room with little more than a blank expression among her features.

"Have you finished your homework, Shikamaru?"

Well, she was still calling him by his first name. That's usually a good sign.

He nodded silently, never loosing sight of her hands. Yoshino ignored him entirety and stepped, unconvinced, into Shikamaru's prison. Retreating to his bedside, he withdrew from both his desk and his mother's reach as she read over his homework journal through slanted eyes. Due to experience, Shikamaru had learnt to leave his homework journal out until morning, lest his parents think he'd been lying to them, the consequences of which being quite painful.

With one last shrewd glance at the journal, her expression returned to its blank, unreadable, impossible stare. She stood up straight and turned to Shikamaru with a temporarily sweet smile, gesturing for him to follow her out the door.

"Come. You can help me with dinner tonight."

Gulping profusely and in a partial state of shock, the youngest Nara continued forward with a stiff nod. He trailed his mother down the stairs, nearly stepping on her heels, and into the kitchen where she already had most everything they needed set out for them.

The Nara's kitchen was fairly new, having been installed about a week before. The counter tops were white granite, and the cupboards drawers were all soft close, but it was nothing special; it was even purchased on sale, allowing only a few extra luxuries. His parents had wanted a change, so they got one. However, that didn't mean they were necessarily debt-free. Sure, they weren't drowning in it, but it could still cause problems. It could probably even help provoke the usual ones.

There was a moment's worth of awkward silence while his mother dug through a cabinet, looking for something that had apparently slipped her mind in the process of prepping the kitchen for the two of them.

"Shikamaru, sweetie, could you get the bag of rice from that cupboard next to you?" She resumed her investigation of the cabinet in front of her. "The one at your feet."

Snapping himself out of his daze, he nodded to no one in particular, turned on his heels and bent down, pulling open the aforementioned cupboard and quickly retrieved the rice. He stood, and walked stiffly to his mother's side.

With a triumphant smile, Yoshino removed the bottle of soy sauce from a high-up shelf. Bottle still in hand, she turned to face her shaking son. He held the bag of rice out in front of himself, almost covering his face, but she took it from him gently, patting him on the head. Shikamaru winced slightly, but willed himself to not pull away.

With that, she turned away from him and headed to the refrigerator, pulling out various vegetables for the evening's meal. After swinging the door closed, she made several failed attempts to open the freezer door, eventually just setting down the few odd items in her arms and yanking it open. Yoshino took out some pre-cut frozen fish before slamming it shut, grumbling to herself about convincing her husband to buy a new fridge one of these days.

Mentally sighing to himself, Shikamaru picked up a saucepan in an attempt to busy himself to avoid the awkwardness of the situation and held it up to the facet, slowly filling it with water. He looked over briefly to his mother who was looking at him like he was insane.

"Shikamaru." She stated blandly. He turned off the water and faced her with a quizzical expression on his already battered features.

"Yes, Kaa-san?" he questioned.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips and furrowing her brow.

"...Filling up this pan with water..." he said slowly, slightly confused "…for the rice."

"Do you even know how much water you'll need?" she asked sceptically. "You know if you screw this up, your father won't be hap-," she was curtailed as Shikamaru nodded silently at her.

"I know," he said calmly, trying not to give his mother another reason to raise her voice. "This is the one you marked when I was little, remember?" Shikamaru poured the small amount of water in the pan down drain and tilted it on its side. Trembling fingers pointed to a spot on the inside of the pan near the handle. His mother's eyes nearly sparkled with recognition at the thin silver line. Nodding to herself and with a little less apathy in her steps, Yoshino allowed him to continue what he was doing.

As soon as his mother was once again busied in the slicing of ingredients, Shikamaru discreetly rose a hand to his face and wiped away a lone tear that hadn't even the chance to reach his chin, unwilling to show any vulnerability around one of his tormentors.

_The quiet in the kitchen was broken by high pitched squeals and giggles of a young boy, no older than four, and the soft laughter of a young woman, his mother. The pair of them had just returned from a long day at the park, a trip which the boy's father had been absent from because of his work. When he'd heard this, the child had pouted heavily and clung to his mother's skirt, too young to comprehend his parent's need for separation. But, the clearly more mature of the two males just chuckled lightly and reached down to ruffle his son's ashy brown hair and left._

_But that was all earlier, and now the mother and her bubbly young boy were toppling over each other with laughter, the older simultaneously attempting to cook dinner and also a few treats for themselves. Her son was eager to help._

_There were a few soft 'hmph's as the littlest occupant of the kitchen bounced up and down and climbed onto drawers in a futile attempt to keep himself at eye-level with the well aged counter top. A gentle hand was placed on his shoulder, and his mother bent down beside him to pull a little, green footstool out of the cabinet beneath the sink beside him. He squealed in excitement and hugged his mother tightly (one of the few ways he knew how to thank someone) before jumping onto the stool offered to him and taking on a 'heroic' pose. The beautiful young woman beside him laughed warmly at this, calling forth a light blush to his cheeks._

"_Dumplings, right?" asked the darling child with almost perfect articulation, something to be highly unexpected from someone of his stature, but still the slight slur of childhood innocence. His mother nodded in regard to him, and handed him a saucepan._

"_Please put some water in that for the rice, Shika-sweetie."_

_He blinked blearily at the pan and then to the sink, and then back to the pan, then the sink once more. He tried looking at the pan from different angles and holding it upside down and considered putting it on his head, but then he'd go back to looking from the pan to the sink, the pan to the sink, the pan to the…_

"_Uhm…Momma…how much water…?" Yoshino smiled serenely and took the pan from her confused son, setting it on the counter._

"_Wait here." She exited the room quickly and came back a few moments later with a silver permanent marker in her hand. Shikamaru had already picked the pan back up off of the counter and began to play with it. He whined as she pulled it off of his head and turned it over. Removing the lid of her marker with her teeth, Yoshino held the pan against her hip and drew a thin, straight line on the inside of the pan less than a third of the way down._

_Handing the pot back to her son, she smiled. "Up to that line."_

_Shikamaru gave her a playful yet serious salute. "Yes, Mommy!"_

_His mother laughed hardily at this, seeing the perfect opening for a surprise tickle-attack, and she dived into battle without a moment's hesitation. Shikamaru screeched in surprise and couldn't control the giggles pouring from his mouth as his mother continued to tickle him relentlessly._

"_Aww, Shika-chan!" she was as hopeless at suppressing her giggles as he was. "Shikamaru - my little soldier!" She pulled him into a warm hug and blew a raspberry on his chubby little cheek._

"_Eww! Mommy!!" Shikamaru pulled away from his mother to wipe the spit off his cheek and pout, by himself._

"Kaa-san…?"

Shikamaru began quietly, unsure if disrupting his mother was wise. There were a few more seconds of deadly silence as his mother clattered around, seemingly unable to hear him. She never turned to acknowledge her son, but responded upon realizing the longer she kept quiet, the longer Shikamaru wasn't working.

"Yes, Shikamaru?" She asked, never taking her eyes off the leek she was slicing. Shikamaru swallowed hard before continuing, never taking _his_ eyes off his mother's cooking knife.

"I was wondering…" he hesitated for a moment, and upon seeing a slight jerk in the once fluid movements of the large knife in his mother's hand, his gaze was quickly averted to the drain of a stainless-steel sink. "I-If you're not busy, then m-maybe…" he gulped and put his hand on the cold water tap, "…maybe we could make…sweets," his voice cracked, "y-you know…l-like w-we used to?" Shikamaru was almost choking back tears, yet he hadn't the slightest idea why. Perhaps out of fear?

A tense silence crept into the room that was possibly only felt by Shikamaru, who braced himself against the side of the sink incase his inquiry had exceeded his bounds. He waited breathlessly for a reply while she sighed grumpily and continued to all but flat out ignore the child.

"Maybe," she said solemnly, "if you're a good boy…"

Shikamaru felt his stomach clench painfully. He hurriedly took hold of the facet and tried to work quietly enough to not bother his mother anymore than he already had, but still loudly enough to drown out any remarks that might've been intended to follow. In less than no time at all, the pan was filled up perfectly to the little silver line, neither over nor under, and he placed it upon the stove. He felt his stomach churn and twist and his heart drop down farther than the soles of his shoes.

He knew all too well what his mother meant, and he knew he could never, not in all his life, ever be his parent's vision of a 'good boy'- a perfect son. It was technically impossible. He couldn't because to do that, he'd have to be normal, something his parents would never see him as, and something he was quite sure he wasn't.

A few metres away in the area of the living room, a door was pushed open quickly (and violently) enough for it to hit the door stopper on the wall with a loud 'whack' sound and still bounce back. The door was almost immediately slammed shut, and as soon as the familiar sound was ringing in his ears, Shikamaru had already jumped about three feet from his skin.

Daddy was home, and in a foul mood to boot.

His mother stopped mid-slice and nearly dropped her knife, turning to her son with a smile and then running off in the direction of the sound to greet her husband warmly.

He could hear them from the kitchen, where he stood frozen, seriously considering either hiding next to one of the cabinets or running up the stairs and diving into his room. Yoshino was going on and on about how well behaved Shikamaru had been and giving her husband every juicy little detail whatever traitorous teacher of his had confided in her.

Shikamaru sighed and hesitantly tip-toed into the living room, tired of listening to the praise he knew his father thought he shouldn't be getting. He hung tightly onto the door frame like it was his only lifeline. His mother and father were cuddled up together on the sofa, and they both seemed totally unaware of his presence until he made it known.

"T-Tou-san…?" he asked shakily.

Shikaku sighed impatiently. "Yeah, Shikamaru?"

"I-I was…I was going t-to get an early nights sleep…i-if that's okay w-with y-you…" Shikamaru braced himself and held his eyes shut tightly, receiving an odd look from his father.

"Alright, fine." Shikamaru cracked one eye open as his father continued. "But don't complain to me if you wake up at all hours of the night hungry. Understand?" He nodded silently.

Shikamaru turned slowly towards the stairs and moved as silently as possible; he couldn't believe how lucky he was at that moment and was not going to take it for granted.

Upon reaching his almost-safe haven, he closed the door behind him with a quiet click and rushed over to his wardrobe, withdrawing from it a pair of baggy, grey trousers and a loose white t-shirt.

Getting dressed was another challenge within itself, but Shikamaru's need for rest was gaining on him quicker than he could move. Slowly but surely, his pyjamas were on, and every bruise on his body was aching. He crawled onto a soft, springy mattress, burying himself under a thick forest-green comforter. He pulled the covers up past his nose as he lay on his back, staring at the ceiling with sorrowful eyes.

Minutes passed into hours with nothing but sleeplessness to show for it. Shikamaru frowned to himself. Wasn't sleeping what he did best? '_Well,'_ he thought, '_that and pissing off my parents. Seriously- there's no just letting stuff go with them. So easily provoked.'_ His parents' (or rather, parent's) smiling faces faded in and out of his head. Sure, his mother smiled at him a little for the time being but…those short-lived smiles never met her eyes.

A reason why? There hardly had to be one, and it happened so long ago, he could barely remember. Remember what, exactly? Everything and anything. His face, his name, just his friend in particular- it was all just a series of painful blurs. He sighed. How many times did he have to remember it and still remember nothing at all? It almost made him feel ashamed.

His first kiss.

It had been one of his friends, about four years ago. Just being curious twelve year olds, the innocent question of 'what would it be like to kiss another guy' had arisen itself out of god knows where, and again, just being twelve, they felt no harm in finding out for themselves. Then, of course, Shikamaru's parent's had found them, and that was just hell in a hand-basket…

They threw him out as politely as humanly possible, and his father hit him for the first time. Mrs. Nara wouldn't speak to him either; she only even looked at him when she slapped him about the head and shoulders for bringing up the event.

About a week later, his parent's had made him transfer schools. It's a shame, too. Sometimes he liked to imagine he'd fallen for that old friend of his, but it was impossible to say, as these feelings had never occurred to him until after the fact. All he could remember was the boy's laugh, something similar to music, and his lovely, soft, warm brown hair. He coughed to cover a light chuckle and sighed. '_Wishful thinking…'_

His eyes fluttered closed, unconsciously rolling over on a squeaky mattress…

_Pressed against the cold, unforgiving walls of his dank cell, Shikamaru couldn't suppress a shiver. It only took him a glance at the barred window to see the pale moon in the darkness. There wasn't a light in the entire room, and only the moon's cold rays illuminated the darkness, though it was still an amazing feat to be able to see._

_He looked down from the window and to the shadows cast by the iron bars that stretched across the dirty floor and to another cement wall. It was only then that he noticed he was not alone in his cell – not anymore._

_A figure of a rather nonchalant man was leaning casually onto the wall opposite the window, the moonlight accentuating his many features, save for his face, which was almost entirely covered in the moon's shadow. His muscles were visible but not entirely threatening, and his skin was taught, clearly showing the very movement beneath its surface as he shifted in position. The man smirked at him lightly, his teeth glinting in the light._

"_Y'know, you'll catch your death if you just sit there…" he sounded amused with himself, hardly the type to be playing the mother hen. Shikamaru blinked dumbly, and the smirk playing across his acquaintance's features broadened. He looked away from the rather daunting figure across from him and down to his shivering arms. Much to his surprise, instead of his baggy white t-shirt, his eyes met a standard, orange prison, jacket. He felt the material carefully with his hands; it was cold. How long had he been wearing it? Where did it come from? Was that what was making him so cold?_

"_Don't turn around."_

_Shikamaru was jerked from his silent musings and into his cell mate's arms. He gasped in shock at the man's brashness. 'Why didn't that hurt? Weren't there bruises there? What the f-' In an unintended attempt at pulling away, the man behind him tightened his grip, sending a shiver down his spine as his warm breath rolled over his earlobe._

_Sirens went off in Shikamaru's head as his company's mouth began to descend onto his ear. He immediately became overcome with the need to flee and tried to push the man away._

"…_Please don't leave me," he said meekly, the sadness in his voice a world away compared to the nearly feral tone it held a few moments before._

"_B-But…" Shikamaru began, "I have to-"_

"_Wake…up?"_

"_What?" Shikamaru question was unreturned, and the heat that he didn't know was there until the other man had stepped back slowly began to disappear._

"_Wake up."_

"_But…I…"_

Wake up!

The sirens in his ears turned to school bells and the harsh, if not somewhat soothing voice and touches of the man in his cell turned to the threats of an angry teacher trying to shake him awake.

Shikamaru half-heartedly suppressed a groan and blinked furiously to clear his blurred vision, finding himself staring out a large, dirty school window with his head down on the desk and himself halfway out of his seat – most likely from edging away from the person in his dream.

Slowly, Shikamaru's dazed mind put the pieces together and led himself to an inconvenient conclusion; he had fallen asleep in his world history class, again, and the angered teacher trying to prod him awake was Kotetsu-sensei.

"Good afternoon, Shikamaru." Shikamaru leaned in his chair a little to see his fiery haired friend with his usual stoic expression standing a bit behind the teacher he was still ignoring.

He grumbled and wiped his eyes blearily, finally standing from his seat. "Hey Gaara…and sorry, Kotetsu-sensei."

Kotetsu guided a barely-standing Shikamaru to the door along with Gaara, grinning. "Oh, it's fine Shikamaru, really." His evil grin became a slight bit more serious and frightening. "You know, as long as you don't mind taking a test on what not to do in my classroom and another over what we actually covered during your beauty sleep tomorrow after school." He laughed lightly at his student's horrified expression.

"Tomorrow after school isn't a very good time for him, Kotetsu-sensei." Gaara chimed in, his tone as deadly as ever. There were a few moments of thoughtful silence between the three of them before anyone would make another sound.

- - Shikamaru - -

"Why?"

I winced at his tone, expectant yet disapproving. I don't like it – it's that type of tone that demands an answer regardless of the situation. I hate it when Kotetsu-sensei gets like this. Usually, he wouldn't mind too much, but I guess it just means that whatever I missed was important. It's not like I'm worried about it though; during summer break and every other holiday I get, my parent's always make me study up on what we're supposed to be taught during the school year, so I already know everything there is to know this year.

I clear my throat while shifting uncomfortably in the silence. Kotetsu-sensei gives a small chuckle when my stomach growls loudly. I look away, embarrassed, and answer less than gracefully. "Well, I kinda have to go see…uh…my g-grandmother then…so…" He simply nods and sighs, sending us away. Thank god I didn't have to finish that.

We only make it a few steps out of the classroom before I hear his voice trailing behind us. "I'll see you tomorrow, lunch time. Got it?"

I turn around and half shout in recognition of hearing him. I hope he heard it; Gaara and I hadn't stopped moving since we left the classroom. I'm pretty sure he heard it though – he didn't look angry or anything.

You know, I'm really glad Gaara's in most of my classes. Otherwise, no one but the teacher would have woken me up, and well, I don't wanna' think about what would have happened if he hadn't been there to bail me out.

After all, Gaara knows what my parent's would do if I had gotten that detention.

A few minutes of walking later, and were in the cafeteria. Great. Gaara brought me here and he knows I can't buy anything. I look back at him, and he's holding his hand out with money in it. God, I hate it when he does this.

"Eat."

"Gaara, I'm not-" I try to protest until he steps forward. He places his empty hand gently around my wrist and puts the money in my hand. I keep trying to tell him no, but he closes my fingers around it. He's lucky he's the only person I let touch me.

"Just eat. It's not like I'm giving you my life savings, so don't be so difficult about it."

I regard him with a defeated look. "You're not gonna' let me say no, are you?" Gaara merely shook his head and headed into the cafeteria, leaving me behind with his money in my hand. "Troublesome…"

There's only one lunch line that's still open, and it's about half full of more unlucky people that arrived a bit too late. There's hardly any seats left, and the line isn't moving quickly. Whose idea was it for the entire high school to share the same lunch period?

Finding my way to the back of the line, I notice that there was nothing left that I either liked or cared for in the slightest. The only remaining purchasable items were bread rolls and that disgusting flavoured water. Why do they even sell that stuff? The crates they're stacked in are only missing a few bottles (mostly berry flavoured), probably from idiot girls that think it's a trendy way to stay skinny, morons.

I grab a bread roll and walk past the crate of orange flavored water, which was missing only one bottle. Poor soul, she's gonna be tasting that crap for weeks. Past the water, I reach the cashier, a glorified term meaning lunch lady minus the gloves and hairnet but still with the same lack of dignity. I give her the money Gaara gave me and she gives me the change. Now I just have to find him. You know, I'm really starting to get sick of his disappearing acts.

It doesn't take long for some careless moron to walk into me as I'm looking for that seemingly invisible friend of mine. He elbows me in the side, and I muffle a cry of pain – he hit me in the dead centre of a large bruise.

"Watch it!" I hiss, clutching my side. I know I shouldn't be so mad at whoever bumped into me since I wasn't really paying attention and it was probably an accident, but I can't help but be at least a little pissed.

"Oh, shit! I am _so_ sorry."

The voice I hear comes from the guy that hit me. It sounds masculine, deep but not too deep. Actually, it sounds sorta'…familiar. I turn around and almost gasp when I see who it is – the new kid.

"It's…okay," I breathe out, trying to hide the pain in my tone. I touch my side lightly and wince; it still stings. Bad. Great, here comes his friends. They must've noticed him lagging behind. "Look," I begin as Shino comes to stand beside Kiba, shortly followed by Sasuke and the eldest of the group, Hinata's cousin, Neji. "I'm sorry for being such an ass yesterday…" Kiba simply smiled and shook his head.

"S'okay," he says with a shrug, "You were having a rough day." My cheeks start to burn up.

My hand shoots up to the fading bruise on my jaw that had brought so much attention in homeroom earlier, and I stare it him pointedly. "I was trying to apologize." I continue to glare at him. "There's no need to be so insensitive about it." Taken aback, Kiba stumbles for words. Upon seeing that he has none, I give him one last annoyed glare and turn around, beginning to walk away.

"W-wait! I-I didn't mean to-"

"Do _not_ touch him."

My eyes widen. I'd know that voice anywhere. Turning around, I'm thoroughly shocked to find Gaara had taken hold of Kiba's wrist at an arms length away. Almost all of his friends appear to be staring daggers at Gaara with the exception of Shino, who was…well, not much, clearly.

Mentally, I sigh in relief. If Kiba had grabbed me to stop me from walking away…well, from the position his hand is in and the amount of force it looks like it took Gaara to stop him, let's just say this cafeteria would have gotten a hell of a lot louder by now. I roll my eyes in an attempt to not seem so desperate for protection and look at Gaara.

"Gaara, it's okay. He wasn't going to hurt me." Gaara glares at the Inuzuka boy and reluctantly lets go of his wrist. "Really," I force up a clearly fake chuckle, "you act like my mother."

Evidently, I found out this was the wrong thing to say the moment Gaara heard it. Gaara's head snapped towards me, and Kiba, having a bit of a delayed reaction, let out a yelp and brought his free hand to his previously captured wrist in an attempt to nurse it. "You know very well that I am _nothing_ like your mother." I winced at the anger in his tone.

Crap. "N-No, I meant- I didn't mean-" I let out a sigh and calm down for just a moment. "I meant you were being over-protective, that's all. Now please…let this go," I say, gesturing to Kiba. Gaara looks at him indifferently for a moment and begins to straighten himself up, pointedly ignoring him.

"Sorry," I say to Kiba, guilt absolutely plastered to my face. But, of course, he just laughs nervously and rubs his wrist lightly with a nod. Wow. It's been two days and I've nearly made the new kid almost piss his pants twice…is that a record?

"Really, Shikamaru," Neji starts, "you need to learn how to keep your friends under control." I roll my eyes at the smirking Hyuuga.

"Oh, I _apologize_ for not owning his soul." I grumble and take my leave. Or, at least I was before someone wrapped their arms around my shoulders. I yelp in pain as the person leans in on my bruises and a flash of blond catches my eyes. Reluctantly, I look up to see bright blue, scheming eyes.

"Aww, look who's having some boyfriend issues, Sasori!" he says as his eyes skim over Kiba. I was frozen in fear – I couldn't move and Gaara knew it. He also knew he couldn't do anything to help.

"Deidara, this isn't the best of places-" the surprisingly calm red head behind the loud blond walked up to the group casually, the situation slowly gaining more attention.

"I know, Sasori. That's why he's going to come outside with us!"

"I'm not going anywhere," I state, point blank, defiantly glaring at the pair. Sasori shakes his head lightly and Deidara continues to smirk at me. Kiba's eye's are clouded with confusion. I'm not surprised; I don't think he's aware of the fact that I'm the entire school's punching bag. Sasuke is glaring at them both – he hates his brother, and thus, has the same attitude towards his brother's friends. He wasn't defending me. He's just being the brat that he is.

"Oh, but I think you are," Deidara cooed softly, not trying too hard to cover up the malice in his tone.

I looked in Kiba's direction; I could hear growling, and I could swear it came from a dog, but there wasn't one. It was just Kiba snarling at the blond holding me down.

"He said no!" The brunette was being held back by Shino and Neji, who were just barely keeping him from doing god knows what.

"Oh well…that's too bad." He grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and yanked me beside him. "But I'm sure I can get him to reconsider." My eyes widen at his smirk, and I let out a cry of pain as he pulls me down onto one of his raised knees.

I'm just barely standing and still just vaguely aware of the fact that both Gaara and Kiba had been restrained. From the looks of things, Sasuke had taken care of Gaara for the time being, and Shino and Neji were struggling to hold back an enraged Kiba. There words were getting fuzzier, and I can only partially comprehend that Kiba's trying to protect me and Gaara's actually _yelling_.

Not surprisingly, in all the commotion we had attracted quite a lot of spectators, two of which being our Biology teacher – Anko-sensei and the P.E. teacher – Asuma-sensei, who were both rushing over to see what was interrupting their lunch break. Thank god Gai-sensei didn't show up.

"What's going on here?!" Anko-sensei shouts.

One of Deidara's hands snakes its way up to my shoulder and the other to my waist, seemingly trying to keep me balanced. "I'm sorry, Anko-sensei. I was just helping Shikamaru to his feet." He pulled me closer to him. I scowl at the thought of how this might actually be working, that sneaky bastard. Deidara's crystal blue eyes were filled with worry. "He attacked Shikamaru, yeah!" He pointed at Kiba, only serving to irritate the boy further.

"You lying, son of a bi-!!" Shino clamped his hand over Kiba's mouth as he continued to restrain him. Asuma-sensei looked me over and then looked at Sasori and Deidara with a frown. He sighed while inspecting the two restrained boys; Kiba was still flailing like a drowning bird while Gaara was just trying to convince Sasuke to let go of him.

"Deidara and Sasori – I'll be seeing you two after school." Deidara nearly protested but was put off by Sasori, who dragged him away. "Are you alright, Shikamaru?" I nod uneasily and let out a relieved sigh when he turns away, heading back to Anko-sensei. I rub my temples; today is just not my day.

"And I'll see the rest of you after school too!" Asuma shouts back at the group. "In my office!" Of course, Asuma was never one for unfair punishment.

After the other people that had been staring and surrounding us began to clear, Shino, Neji, and Sasuke released their holds on Gaara and Kiba. Gaara immediately rushed over to me, beginning to look me over with a slightly less stoic expression than usual, fingertips just barely ghosting over me, making sure I was alright.

"You're hurt," he says.

"Not that I wasn't already," I chuckle lightly, rolling my eyes. And as I did, I happen to see my hand (previously holding a bread roll), empty and the bread roll dropped on the floor a few meters away, appearing to have been stepped on several times. "Damn it!" I curse loudly. I bend down and pick the roll up off the floor with an annoyed sigh – so much for lunch. "Oh, and I almost forgot."

I rummage through my pockets and take out some change. "Sorry for wasting your cash." I hand it to him, and he frowns, beginning to protest. "Shut up. You're keeping it." His protests die in his throat, and he shoves the money into his pocket.

"That was your lunch," Kiba groans, looking at the mangled piece of bread in my hands, "…wasn't it?"

"I don't know why you're looking at me like that; I can eat this." I look at it for a moment with a frown. "But that probably wouldn't be the best idea," I mumble and toss it into the nearest trash bin.

Kiba starts to dig through his bag, which had fallen out of his hands just before being restrained, and I tilt my head curiously at him. After much searching, he withdraws from the bag a blueberry muffin. "Uh…here," he says. "Have it."

"You know, I really don't need your pity," I say, and he shakes his head frantically.

"N-No! I-I mean…I don't pity you. I...I'm just- I'm…" he sigh and moved closer. "Will you just take it? I'm trying to apologize for screwing you out of your lunch- No, I meant…I-I-" What's up with him? "I mean-…Making you drop your lunch!" he yells, finally. I can't help but smile a little; this guy must seriously be an idiot. He started blushing faintly when he said 'screwing you', too, and I can't help but think I must've been as well.

I stop smiling for a moment and clear my throat, taking a step backwards. "Uhm…" I begin unsurely, only to be cut off by Kiba.

"Seriously, just take it, okay? I don't really like blueberry muffins anyway…so…" I raised a brow at this.

"Then…why did you buy it?"

He stares at me for a moment as if considering how to answer. "I…dunno…just felt like it, I guess…" he mumbled. After a moment, he sighs and takes hold of my hand – I felt the need to pull away and smack him (and I have a feeling Gaara was also feeling the latter), but I'm not sure why I didn't. His hand was soft like Gaara's, and he was being just as gentle. He turned my palm upward and put the muffin in my hand. "Eat it," he says, smirking lightly, the blush almost completely faded from his cheeks. I sigh in defeat, and take it.

"Fine," I say, almost indifferently, "if it'll get you to leave me alone." I know I didn't have to be so mean about it, but I had to say it. I mean, if I didn't, he might think we were friends or something, and he'd start hanging out with me…I didn't want to get to comfortable in his company. It was kinda scary when I thought about it too; something like that hadn't happened since I was twelve…

Frowning slightly and blush gone, Kiba honoured my request and left me alone, taking his friends with him.

Gaara was next to me in no time flat, giving me one of the stranger looks he's ever given me, something similar to a warning. "Don't look at me like that…I know what I'm doing here." At that, he scoffed, and we began our walk to our class.

On the way there, I couldn't help but think about the previous day. There weren't any witnesses to the…altercation in math class, so how could someone call home and tell my parents? Besides that, who at this school even knew my phone number? Even Hayate-sensei didn't get to class until the fight was ov-…Hayate-sensei.

I turned in the corridor, still following Gaara. Now that I think about it, I should probably go talk to him now, Hayate-sensei. I pause in our route to homeroom, and after a few more steps, Gaara notices and looks at me funny again.

Speak of the devil…

Sure enough, there he was, coughing into his free hand while the other held a large binder full of papers to grade and a few more documents on top. "Hayate-sensei?" I call to him, causing him to look up.

He coughs into his hand a few times before smiling at me. "Ah, Shikamaru-kun," I walk forward to meet him on the other side of the hallway, Gaara trailing behind me now. "Can I help you?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something," I say, crossing my arms over my chest, receiving a rather odd look from my teacher, "….It was you who called my parents about stopping that fight, wasn't it?"

With a light chuckle, he nods. "Yeah. I thought it would be nice to let your parents know." I frown quizzically at him.

"How?" I asked. "You weren't there."

Hayate-sensei simply smiles. "I was there; I just wanted to see how long it would take for someone else to sort it out." He chuckled again. "It took you around five minutes – I'm impressed. You know, I really didn't think you were going to be the first to resolve the matter. I hope you didn't mind too much."

Why does everyone think so little of me? I know I'm lazy, but I like the quiet. I shrug, and wave goodbye distractedly, signalling to Gaara that it's time for us to get going again.

Gaara looks at me, expectantly, but I just ignore it and keep moving. "It's no big deal…" I tell him, "…really." You know what? I'm really starting to wonder if playing along like we're one big happy family…

...hurts them as much as it does me.

(A/N: Okay, how was that? I know it's not all that interesting quite as yet but I promise you it will be soon...I hope. I hope you enjoyed it :D)

((B/N: Sorry guys. It was such a long wait for this chapter because quite honestly, I'm a lazy bitch. Also, if I might say something about Shikamaru's last thought, I'd have to say no. It hurts him more than it does them. Definitely. D: ))


	3. Appeasement

Authors note: Well, I'm so, so sorry for the delay! I've just been so busy, I haven't had time...don't worry, I feel plenty guilty.

Disclaimer: No, I own nothing. Well, nothing anime related anyway, but that's beside the point, you all know what I mean.

- - POVs - -

- - ','- - End POVs

I am Puppet;

Chapter three: Appeasement

Had there ever been one thing that Nara Shikamaru ever learned in his life, it'd be that life is, clearly, unfair.

Although, _that_ was more of a _given_.

It was unfair, and there had always an unbalance of bad and good, one more so than the other…respectively. And as with any other phenomenon in his life he would often find himself lying awake at night, an un-pleasurable experience within itself, trying only somewhat fervently to decipher the meaning of life – or, more specifically, the meaning of _his_ life.

He had known very well that with life came emotions. With emotions come feelings, the distinct difference between the two being that a 'feeling' is a perception of an emotion. Emotions are things that bring themselves out within yourself whether you like them or not, whereas feelings are more entailed with your view of your own self and the dealings of others. A 'feeling' is something you are given by either yourself or another.

For example, there's the feeling of pain.

And an emotion called hurt.

Shikamaru knew without a doubt that these two ruled his life.

Appeasement.

Since the tender age of twelve, his life had been forcefully dedicated to it. Everyday he tried to make his mother and father proud, and everyday he failed, always wondering why it never worked. He wished he knew. The only thing he ever came close to knowing was why they did it; he wasn't perfect anymore. But, was that it? Was it _really_? Was he only to exist as a punching bag? To be jabbed at with neither rhyme nor reason?

Or had they motive?

They were trying to fix something unbroken, beating perfection into him. They forced him to undergo the agony punishment bared everyday, and as such, everyday of Shikamaru's existence was a pathetic chore.

But still, through all sense and reason, no matter how many times he tested the equation in his head with new variables added, removed, or simplified, he could never bring it upon himself to pin the blame upon his mother or his father. Because, after all, was his imperfection not his own faults and shortcomings?

And so, an evening's troubled contemplations tolled the genius yet another sleepless night.

For Shikamaru, that meant that he had to seek out his haven, which was unfortunately unavailable until the morning hours. Presently, he sat slumped in his desk chair; the only thing illuminating the room was the dingy light of an old, beaten desk lamp, which had clearly seen better days. He was there, working tirelessly at a project he had been assigned fifth period that day at school. The work in particular was not due until the end of the month, unsurprisingly two weeks away.

He had skipped out on dinner yet again and had not even so much as _looked_ at his bed since four o'clock when he had arrived home from school. Glancing up at his alarm clock, he groaned, seeing it to be a little past two in the morning. The assignment would have taken him a considerably smaller amount of time had he had access to the computer downstairs in the corner of the living room, but, access denied, he had to rely on the numerous amount of books that littered his room. Only a few of them had actually remained in the shelf, for at least three times as many were scattered around the room, usually in groups of three to four, stacked haphazardly around the tiring child.

Hunching over onto his desk with a laboured sigh, the youth sat in silence, staring out the pitch black window. The only sight allowed to him past the pane was a faint orange glow from the street lamp on the curb, which was possibly emanating more light into his room than the lamp on his desk. Shadows crept past streets and lawns, over houses and driveways, painting darkened sketches in the most sullen and obscure hour of the night. He shook his head, refusing himself rest. As the essay neared completion, there was still other work to be done, some due the next day, or rather, later that morning, and others not for a week or so.

In all honesty, he knew he had no need for all those books, if any of them at all, but he also knew that his parents would come down on him hard for something as small as grammatical error. So, the hours were spent perfecting it.

Frowning slightly, Shikamaru sat up straight in his chair, tensing as it creaked under the pressure. Had that been too loud? He situated himself in that awkward position, mid shift, holding his breath. His ears strained to hear anything else in the house. The only audible sounds he could make out were his quickened heart beat and the ever-present rings of silence.

With bated breath, Shikamaru reluctantly concluded that there was still a long night to come.

* * *

Slouching carelessly, Shikamaru let out a particularly bored sigh as his eyes lazily followed the teacher around the classroom. The man seemed to be able to droll on forever about the planet and the universe and other things that no one, especially not the genius, could care less about. "So, class, would anyone care to remind me what happens when the wave source of the red shift changes? How can you tell? Anyone?"

Shikamaru watched as the helpless teacher scanned the room in search of a single person willing to participate in his lessons.

"Kabuto-sensei, why is this even important? We're _never_ gonna _need_ to know this…"whined an agitated student, who also could not care less about physics.

"It's important," he stated plainly, growing irate, "because you have exams coming up. It may not seem relevant now, but it'll mean something later." There was a stern pause where Kabuto's eyes narrowed. "…so I suggest you keep your comments to yourself before you waste anymore of the class's time."

- - Shikamaru - -

I lent forward onto my desk with my chin in my hand, waiting the inevitab-

"Shikamaru-kun, the answer?"

"…what was the question?" I reply, half annoyed and still half asleep. Giggles emanate from around the classroom from the students in the lower half of the gene pool. I wasn't paying the full amount of attention that I should have, but so what? It's not rocket science. I probably know more than he thinks I do. It's moments like this that make me feel sorry for teachers like Kabuto - especially when a loser like me gets props.

"I asked how it would be possible to detect a change in the red shift's wavelength, should such a change ever occur." His tone indicated as much annoyance as his scowling features did. Hmm. I didn't know men his age could scowl like that.

"Oh, well, changes in the Red Shift can be detected by observing the difference in its previous wavelength or frequency." He nods slightly, urging me to continue, as I do with the obligatory sigh. "These change if the wave source has moved towards or way from the location in which the reading is being taken. There, happy?" Not really. I only added the last part in my head. Probably should've said it out loud.

I raise an eyebrow, examining his mildly shocked face. I think I was a little rude with my tone, but at least I answered his question. I'd put money on it that no one wanted to answer out of fear for being heard by their peers, god forbid they actually think, and in turn becoming the possessor of the freshest bruises in the room. Which means, since _I_ answered, I'm just going to have a wonderful day.

Some of the more popular girls in the back of the room have started teasing Kabuto-sensei now. They should be ashamed of themselves, really. They all want in his pants, apparently. I think it's their latest way to occupy thoughtless time. At least they picked the teacher on the younger end of the spectrum. He's actually blushing. Sad.

"L-Ladies, please, we really need to finish this section today. Please be silent and let me finish this lecture." Another chorus of giggles broke out into the classroom, and Kabuto began to look increasingly uncomfortable. Poor guy. It's always a struggle for the newer teachers around here. He should be thankful, though, that the only thing interfering with class is horny school girls.

"Are you sure, Kabuto-sensei?" one of the overly made-up girls in the back asks. "I'll be _silent_ if you want me to be. But I could always be _loud_ for you if you wanted me to," she ends with a feathery moan. A few of her friends giggle on as Kabuto stiffens, and his blush radiates furiously. The man hurries to adjust his glasses and clear his throat.

"O-Oh, yes umm…well-"

He pauses mid-'sentence', and after a quick glance to the door, I can see why. I frown in distaste as my eyes follow his to swaying long, silky hair.

"O-Orochimaru-sa-sensei…o-oh, uh…"

My chemistry teacher, fucking creep. I can't believe I spent my entire night doing his sad excuse for an essay. And the fact that he's even here now, during class, and…_again_, only means trouble. I swear, this has got to be his free period or something. He has to have someone in his classroom for all the time he's over here messing with Kabuto.

His steely eyes sweep over the room and locks eyes with each of us briefly. At least, I think it's each of us – surely I'm not the only one. It's hard not to be scared around him. Kabuto's gone as pale as a sheet now, so I can only suspect he's feeling the same. I can only hope that Kabuto gets used to him as quickly as possible. After all, they _are_ colleagues.

He settles his hand softly on Kabuto's shoulder and turns Kabuto to face him.

"You're not having trouble, are you?" He inched Kabuto closer to himself without leaving much of that stale air between them. "There's only _so much_ giggling I can stand, Kabuto…sensei." The closing end of his statement was tacked on with a carefree hum…almost a hiss. I pretty much have this guy pinned as bad news.

"No, no, Orochimaru-sensei, they were jus-"

The eruption of the bell brings the classroom back to life, everyone quickly ushering each other out of the room and scurrying into the hallway. Kabuto looks thankfully at the students pouring out of the room "…leaving."

I end up being the last one out of the room as usual, but I'm just as urgent to get away from Orochimaru as everyone else here is. I groan upon realizing I still have to deal with Kotetsu. Today is just going fabulously, isn't it? I always feel like I'd rather be somewhere else during lunch, but I never meant this. I sigh. This is still better than having to mess with those jerk-off upper-classmen and Kiba and his friends. I guess.

I start to make my way down the steps two at a time. It's not entirely bad, though. Lunch usually gives me a chance to go to the library for a good nap. Or read – which ever I'm in the mood for. Hmm. That reminds me. Did Hinata find that book for me yet? I don't know if it's in my –

Crap. Where's my bag?

Shit. I left in the physics room with Kabuto and Orochimaru-sensei. I start my way up the stairs, grunting 'troublesome' all the way. Let's see… if Kabuto saw it after Orochimaru left – assuming he left – then he probably just put under his desk. But if Orochimaru saw it…let's try not to think about that one.

I stride up the last few steps, nearly lunging, and drag my feet to the door. I really, really don't want to do this, but I think the repercussions of leaving it would be far worse than just swallowing what ever little pride I pretend to have and getting it.

I rest my hand on the door handle, and I'm about to knock with the other. I'm surprised to find the door slightly ajar – teachers usually shut their doors during lunch periods so students can't hang out in classrooms by themselves. Didn't I shut it on my way out?

"P-please…" gasped Kabuto, "Orochimaru-sama…"

"Oh, Kabuto. Are you bored of me already? Perhaps I should be trying…_harder_…heh…"

An involuntary shudder runs down my spine as the Orochimaru's lust filled tone pours in and out of my ears. I'm probably going to regret this later, but I decide to stick around. I must really need my bag...at an insane level...

"No! Orochimaru-sama, I just, _ahh- mmhn_…" A bubbly moan erupts from Kabuto's lips. "Ihavealotofwork…to…do now…and…a-_ahh_…" He's trying to rush, but words are starting to fail him.

I stifle a gasp when another strangled moan unceremoniously falls from the younger man's throat. What the hell are they doing in there?! Jesus, it sounds like they're… No. They're teachers. Teachers don't do that. Teacher's just don't…They can't be. Not on school grounds! In a classroom, no less. Maybe if I just take a peek…it's not like looking would hurt, right?

Right?

I take a peek through the crack between the door and the wall, and I-

"Kabuto, haven't I told you…you work too much. Too hard. It's not good for you." Orochimaru licks his pale lips, bent over Kabuto, who he has pinned to the teachers' desk at the head of the room.

"Mmmhh…ye-…yess'r…" Kabuto mumbles, sheepishly. He raises his legs off the ground and crosses them over Orochimaru's waist in an act of submission, completely supported by the desk and man hung over him.

"But I know something that's much…better…" Orochimaru sounds almost giddy in his perverse position. He shifts his position slightly over the physics teacher and lowers his head dangerously close to-

I bolt. 'Oh my god. Just…JESUSfucking_CHRIST_! What in the absolute _hell_ were they…?!'

That image was stuck in my mind as I made my way as quickly and quietly as I could down the stairs and down the corridor. Fuck the bag. I'll get it later!

I did _not_ just see my two, male teachers sucking face. I run blindingly, not really knowing where I'm going – I just need to not be near them. Once out of breath, I come to a messy stop as I lean and slide down a row of purple lockers. I'm trying to catch my breath, but _fuck_… Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. My breathing is so shaky, I'm not really sure why. But I definitely didn't like that. I shouldn't have seen it. I didn't need to see that. It's just – just wrong! I mean, it's not because they're my teachers, although that makes it slightly worse. It's just…_wrong_….

Swiftly, I push myself off the ground thankful there was no one around and spin around, kicking the locker I was leaning on as hard as I can, to sate my frustration. Ow. I think I popped my toe. I take a deep breath and hold it, placing my forehead against the cool metal lockers to try to calm down.

_It's fine, everything is alright. You didn't do anything wrong. You're okay._

I didn't even realize I'd begun to pinch my forearm underneath my sleeve, pretty painfully at that.

_It's fine, everything is alright. You didn't do anything wrong. You're okay._

"Shikamaru!" I barely hear, having been focusing on the pain.

_It's fine, everything is alright. You didn't do anything wrong. You're oka-_

"Hey, Shikamaru!"

I freeze. Realizing the voice is closer than it had been, I turn to face it quickly, pulling my sleeve down as I go. I put on a bored face, finding the voice to belong to Asuma-sensei. I try to give him a questioning look, but I'm not sure how many of the previous moments' emotions are bleeding through my façade. He keeps looking at my arm. Shit.

"Asuma-sensei?" I ask with an 'I'm-up-here' tone, trying to pry his eyes from my arm. He's probably seen either what I was doing, or the bruises. I would've thought by now he'd leant that staring is rude. How troublesome.

It takes him a moment to catch on, or rather, hear me. He nods, more to himself than me. "Right…I need you to come with me. About…yesterday?" Oh. Right. Crap. I really wish he'd just drop it and let me get on with…oh no…no. What about Kotetsu? If I don't –

"Actually, sensei, I've got t–"

Before I could finish, I was being tugged along gently by the sleeve of my baggy shirt and into a classroom fairly close to where he'd found me. I'm pretty sure this is an unused classroom that he borrowed and has been herding everyone into like cattle. _Softly_ as he can, I'm sure, he nudges me through the doorway.

Glancing around, I'm not surprised to see anyone here, separated into their various friendship groups. Kiba and all his stick-up-their-ass friends are taking up most of the front on the classroom. Figures. Deidara sat at the back of the classroom, glaring daggers at me. Gaara was resting against the nearest to the window.

"Forgive my lateness, Sensei." A monotonous sounds behind me, and I stiffen significantly.

Walking past me slowly, Sasori looks me over briefly, and our eyes meet for a moment. It takes me a second to realize my shirt had slipped off my shoulder, revealing a particularly grotesque bruise. I look away, clearing my throat quietly and adjust my shirt, feeling very uncomfortable. Then, as if the interaction had never came to pass, I turned and joined Gaara by the window and Sasori moved to sit next to Deidara.

"That's fine Sasori, although I had hoped you'd have _some_ sense of urgency." Speaking of urgency, I need to get out of here. I glance around the room, searching for a way to get me out of here. Other then bolting for the door, I can't see a way to escape. Asuma's talking. I can't hear him, but, then again, I'm not listening. Damn this place. My eyes continue to roam the classroom, but I still don't see anything that can help me that doesn't involve breaking something.

"...ikamar...yo...is...ing?"

My brows furrow, and I bring my gaze to Asuma, to whom, I am almost certain, I look irritable. And I wouldn't be surprised if I did. I feel that way. "Shikamaru, are you listening to me? This concerns you, y'know." Asuma's looking at me, his eyebrow raised skeptically.

"No," I mumble, "this doesn't concern anything. It doesn't even matter. Can't we just drop this?" It was more of a demand then a request. I didn't want to be here, and they didn't need to be. Gaara's staring at me, and I'm pretty sure he's trying to tell me the exact opposite of what I'm saying. I'm not going to chance looking at him because I know as soon as I do I'll cave.

"What the _hell_?!"

I wince slightly at the loud exclamation. I look over to find Shino – surprise – holding back an infuriated Inuzuka by the collar of his shirt, not really bothering to exert the amount of force it'd take to really subdue him. I think I've upset him. I scoff, peering lazily at Kiba. Neji, beside them, looks between me and Kiba before scowling and fuming his way up to me with all the elegance he could muster.

Before Neji has a chance to do much of anything, Gaara steps in front of me. There's quite a tense silence in the room despite the fact that Kiba is still struggling with all his might against the surprisingly strong Shino.

"_Move Gaara_."

Neji's tone was clipped with anger, yet his volume was at a level of eerie calm. I stare blankly at the back of Gaara's head, not quite sure what to do. Asuma was just as helpless as I was.

"I will not." Gaara spoke with the same calmness that Neji possessed. At that the scowl on Neji's face deepened further (if that's possible). He grabbed the front of Gaara's shirt and yanked him forwards.

"Both myself and Kiba are quite curious," he said. "_Why_ doesn't it matter? Why do all of _our_ efforts have to go to waste? Why is it he can't seem to accept help?!" Neji scoffed. "He _clearly_ needs it."

With that, he let go of Gaara, pushing him backwards, and, unfortunately, on top me. I let out a small cry of surprise, mixed loudly with pain. Gaara hastily scrambles off me, checking carefully for any advanced injuries as though they were visible through the cloth of my shirt. I don't really register much of what's happening – only that I'm in pain and that it hurt more then I expected.

"Shikamaru– "

"Fine. I'm fine." I say quickly, shaking off his concern. A quick glance around the room tells me that no one had been expecting me to scream like I did. I frown mentally, and only more so when my eyes cross over Sasori's. They seem to be the only ones that don't radiate shock or concern or anything…I can't really read them. They're so blank – almost dead.

I realize we're having a staring match, be it only a small one. I shake it off quickly, but I can still feel his gaze on me.

"Right, well, now that's resolved itself..." Asuma says, awkwardly. As it would seem, he's right. Kiba seemed to tone it down after hearing me scream. I don't really want to deal with him right now, anyway. Or, for that matter, any of these people. "Deidara, Sasori – I want the two of you to each write a letter of apology to Shikamaru. Now." Deidara and Sasori rolled their eyes in unison. That's the first time he's even came close to showing any emotion since he got here. "Shino, Neji, and Sasuke. I want to speak with you three about your roles in this, privately. Kiba, Gaara, I'll do the same with you two afterwards."

"Asuma-sensei, I really don't think-" I try, but Asuma held up his hand, effectively silencing me.

"This is in my hands now, Shikamaru, whether you like it or not. _We_ are all doing as we're told, and you, Shikamaru, you should just be happy justice is being brought to you."

No it's not. It never is.

"All I'm doing is trying to help." Liar. This is just the school administration's copy paste cure for everything. You _have_ to do this. They make you. I just stare downward and let the tiled floor feel my rage. I've been through this a thousand times. It's been the same routine since grade school. It never works, and it never will. See Asuma? This is how it goes; Deidara and Sasori get a slap on the wrist, the people who at least tried to be helpful (and only that: _tried_) will get pounded with needless questions followed by a guilt trip, and I get more shit for it later. So, yeah. You sure are trying, Asuma.

Asuma proceeded to take Neji, Sasuke, and Shino out in the hallway, whilst Deidara and Sasori sat in the corner writing an apology I really don't want, pointedly ignoring us. Although I can't help but be a little concerned over the letters' content when Deidara's giggling like a madman.

"Damn it Shikamaru!"

Kiba's near growling, presumably, at me. There's more than just a little confusion in his eyes, which doesn't surprise me.

"Why doesn't this matter to you?!" He inches himself forward, most likely trying not to set off Gaara. Rolling my eyes slightly, I walk up to match eyes with him, saving him and Gaara the trouble. I set a tone of annoyance and grace him with a scowl.

"Why should it matter to _you_?" I only raise my voice a meagre amount. Actually, I'm not all that far from matching his volume. I'm surprised he's not intimidated, even if only a little. I am about three inches taller than him. But then again, I am quite…thin, where as he actually has some muscle to him. Not terrible at all, mind you, not a gross amount. Just enough t- _God_, I've got to stop side tracking myself like that.

"Why?! You got the shit kicked outta you! And it could've been a lot worse. _That's_ why I care!" Care?! The fuck does he know about…I look away from him, choosing to channel my anger into a wall so I don't end up losing it completely. "I'm _trying_ to _help_ you!" Kiba said in an unnecessarily desperate tone, which, for some reason or another, really pissed me off.

"Don't. You. Fucking. _Dare_." I say, accentuating all of my words with a shove, stopping when he hit the wall. I guess I should be afraid, since Shino's not here to hold him back, but I hardly care. Gaara doesn't really appear eager to step in, either. "I don't need your pity!" My tone is getting more and more threatening with each sentence. "I don't need your _protection_. And I most certainly do not need _your_ friendship!" I growl out. "Because that's what you've been trying to be – my friend. I'm telling you this now, since you've seemed to miss it: I don't _want it_." I'm only – and _only_ – slightly moved by the hurt that shines in his eyes. I mean, I'd been expecting anger or .something like that to rise to the surface, but –

"Shikamaru, I-"

I ignore him. I know it wasn't nice, and I know it not like me. But things like this have to be done. I couldn't allow him to think we're even acquaintances, let alone friends, and I've been too friendly with him recently. Gaara sighs at me, looking as apathetic as usual.

"Bad day?" He asks monotonously. I merely frown and sigh loudly.

"You have no idea." I mumble.

"I know. That's why I asked." Gaara counters, a small, curt smile on his face, although it's more like a grin. It's been awhile since I've seen him smile. It's a small wonder, but a great one nonetheless. I can't help but smile a little back.

"Ugh! What is _with_ you?!" came a frustrated shout from behind me. I whisper a little swear – does this guy not give up?! Does he have nothing better to do than bother me? Because if he really needs something to do, then I'll give him something to do and it won't be any games of shogi.

Giving very little thought to my actions other than the need for this to be over, I swivel around on the heels of my feet and storm over to him, ultimately leaving myself only inches from his face.

"YOU!" I yell. "You are my problem, _Inuzuka_!" My plan: honesty. The saying goes that honesty is the best policy, so I won't go on to delude this guy into thinking everything is hunky-dory.

As I move to withdraw back to Gaara's side, Kiba finally loses some of the terribly small amount of control he has and grabs me by the wrist. I gasp, fully expecting him to injure me, but the grasp is light yet firm – just enough to hold me in place, apparently. It's less anger than I thought there'd be, but I'm actually starting to worry a little. Not like I'm letting him know that, though, so I try to keep as stoic as possible.

"Why," he asks, very darkly at that. "Why do you have to be so…so–!"

I can hear Gaara shifting in place. Crap. He's about to try to stop Kiba from…whatever he's doing, and with Deidara right there. Fuck! I don't want to give that blond asshole more material.

I pull as hard as I can against Kiba, but his grip tightens, painfully so, and he growls. He reaches out his other hand to try to subdue me, but I slap it away fiercely. His first hand releases me, instead going to rub the now red mark on the back of his other hand.

"You don't even know what you're trying to do, Kiba, and you haven't _done_ anything yet!" His eyes narrow in confusion, and my anger dissipates; why is he looking at me like that? Is this guy more of an idiot then I thought?

"What?" he questions.

I'm pulled from my confusion by Gaara gently taking my hand and pulling me back and away from Kiba, slowly. I stumble slightly on my way back behind him to the wall. From the looks of things, Kiba was silently demanding an explanation from me.

A loud, obnoxious laugh came from the side. I can't say I wasn't expecting Deidara to do something, but I was hoping he'd stay out of this. His forehead rests on the table as he continues to laugh, banging his fist against it, and Sasori's looking as stoic as ever.

Deidara stands quickly, laughter diminishing to giggles. "Oh, he's serious – Triangles hasn't heard the rumours!" He fell back against the edge of the table, trying and failing to stem the new flow of near murderous laughter.

"Triangles?!" Kiba asks incredulously. I scoff lightly, I'm amazed that idiot even knows when he's the one being referred to.

"Okay, whatever-your-name-is. You're new so I'll forgive you, yeah." He smiles sweetly at Kiba. Gaara shakes his head and looks at me, but I simply shrug. Let Deidara tell him; he was going to find out sooner or later anyway. Sasori looks as if he wants to say something, but whatever it is, I don't know, and I don't care. He's holding his tongue in the usual fashion.

"This guy," Deidara continues, pointing at me "is gay. _Those_ rumours."

Kiba looks shocked and confused. I don't know why though. It seemed pretty straight forward to me.

"But...they're _just_ rumours right?" Kiba said "They aren't always true..." I don't know why, but that comment hurt a little, even if only that.

Scoffing, Deidara moves forwards, gripping my shoulder tightly and in a fashion similar to the time before.

"_These_ are true," he turned, looking me straight in the eye, and smirked. "I should know. I started them."

I winced slightly when his nails began to dig into me, causing Sasori to stand up, and move rather quickly over to Deidara. Taking hold of his friend's wrist, the red head's eyes met with his friends.

"That's enough, Deidara." Sasori said, gently prying his hand off my shoulder, much to my bewilderment. In all my years of torment, Sasori has never once done anything against Deidara. Not once. I wonder- Deidara jerks his hand away from Sasori and trudges back to his desk, scowling. Sasori and I stare at each other for...god knows how many times today.

I'm the first to break eye contact as the door opens, signaling the arrival of the rest of Kiba's friends and Asuma-sensei. I glance at the clock, cursing at the time. "I have to go" I say, running towards the door, only to be stopped by Asuma, his arm blocking the exit.

"Hold on, there." Asuma says, smiling slightly. "Wait for your apologies." He continues, eyeing my tormentors expectantly. With a small smile, Sasori stands, handing me two small, folded pieces of paper, which I take and unceremoniously shove them in my pocket. They don't mean anything, so I'll read them later. I shove Asuma-sensei, as politely as possible, out the way and push myself out into the hall.

I turn right sharply and fly up the stairs to the second floor. Somehow, I knew I'd never get around to visiting the library today. Once I get to my destination, I'm tired, and out of breath. I feel particularly relieved, though, that when I get there the door is opening, revealing Kotetsu-sensei. I was beginning to think I'd missed him.

I wasn't prepared for the last step, though, and I end up I tripping over it. Falling forwards I let out a sharp cry when as side of my head connects with the door heavily. I lay there on the floor, Kotetsu-sensei hovering over me, his tone worried. It's funny, because I can't really hear what he's saying…probably the usual 'are you okay?' business. I blink, trying to clear my vision which is kind of blurry, but after a moment or two, it's fine and my head only aches a little bit.

Sitting up and rubbing the side of my head, I groan slightly. I'm happy to say that it's not bleeding, but I'll probably have a nasty bruise on my head for a while. Great. Another injury for people to stare at.

"Shikamaru? Are you alright?" Kotetsu-sensei asks, with a slight worry in his voice.

"Yeah," I say quietly. I manage to get up by forcing my weight against the doorframe, but I'm still shaky and slow. But I've been dizzy plenty of times before, so I know that any faster and I'll be meeting the floor sooner than Kotetsu can fail me.

"Let's go do that test," I mutter, attempting to get into the classroom. But he simply leads me inside and helps me into a seat before moving over to his desk.

"No, no," he says, confusing me, "you're not doing a test in this condition. It's cancelled. You can go when you're ready," he finishes.

Huh. I wish I could withstand blows to the head every time something like this happened. But, sadly I can't. So, five minutes later, I find myself leaving with a dull ache in my head, wondering aimlessly...well, almost. I figured, since I've got at least ten minutes before lunch is over, I'll head towards the library.

With a tired sigh I push the door open, happier then I would usually be to be greeted by the blushing librarian.

"S-Shikamaru-kun! H-hello." Finally looking up from the floor, I wander over to the shy library assistant.

"Hey, Hinata," I say, smiling at her. From behind the counter, Hinata nods and smiles meekly, a slight blush on her cheeks.

"I-I have th-that b-book you want to borrow, Shikamaru-k-kun" she says, forcing confidence into her tone as if I'd yell at her if it turned out to be the wrong thing. She placed it on the table, waiting silently for my approval. I nod at her, reading the cover quickly, pulling my library card out of my pocket, and placing it on the table.

She takes the book from me carefully, scans it through the system, marks it as 'out', and uses a date-stamp on a slip inside the book, telling me when the book needs to be returned. With a thankful smile, I take the book, and reach down to place it into my bag, only to stop when I realize I didn't have it, so as opposed to raving about the…situation between Kabuto-sensei and Orochimaru, I sigh in defeat. "Thanks Hi-"

"TENTEN! IS THIS NOT THE BOOK YOU WANTED?!"

"_LEE_! _Keep your voice down, we're in the library!_" Tenten hissed loudly from behind a bookshelf somewhere.

"_Sorry, Tenten…_" Lee hissed just as quietly, his voice truly sincere. Poor guy. I roll my eyes. I pity that guy. I really hope he and Tenten aren't dating – she must be so demanding. Troublesome women.

"Thank you, Hinata." I'm finally able to say without further interruption. She nods and smiles slightly at the irked expression that must have planted itself on my face. Footsteps come from behind me, and I see Tenten and Lee walking up to the desk. I had hoped it wouldn't be these two. But then again, I should have known. How many other Tenten's are there? It's such and unusual name.

"Oh," Tenten says, smiling at me uncomfortably, and I frown at her, an unimpressed look in my eyes. "Hey Shikamaru," she says, just as awkwardly. She was one of the many who believe the rumours. So, ignoring me as best she could, he gave the book in her hands to Hinata, who did her job quickly, wanting, I'm sure, to release the tense air that lay between the four of us.

"Tenten!" Lee reprimanded loudly, making everyone wince. "You must be supportive of Shikamaru-san!" he continues, giving her a thumbs up and a goofy grin, all the while placing a hand on the my shoulder, which I quickly moved away from, growling.

Did I mention this guy was a major idiot? Most cheerleaders are, though. They always have to support something, Christ, it gets old. Worse than that, why doesn't anyone think _this_ dumb fuck is gay? What makes people think I look so gay, huh? _He's_ the one that insists on wearing the _female_ cheerleading uniform at all the football games.

"Whatever," I mutter, moving behind the counter to sit at a small table. Hinata had set it up for me a long time ago when she realized just how much I came here. So, placing the book on the table, underneath my arms, I rest my head in them, like a pillow, and my eyes drift shut. I hear a door slam somewhere behind me right after a conversation on cheer strategies fades, and I'm all too aware that both Lee and Tenten have gone. Thank Kami.

Although, just before I drifted completely into unconsciousness, I hear someone whisper somewhere beside me.

"_R-rest well, Shikamaru-kun..."_

It was...so nice of her...

Although, I knew the niceties of today wouldn't last long.

- - ','- -

* * *

Finally arriving at his house, Shikamaru sighed loudly, swinging open the front door of his house and clutching the strap of his bag tightly, having gone to retrieve it earlier that afternoon. Glancing around, it unsettled him to find that his mother had not come to greet him at the door, not that she did that all the time anyway. There were no sounds anywhere else in the house to suggest that even a mouse dare entertain the thought of scurrying around on the floor – which wasn't to say Shikamaru wanted such a thing.

So, the Young Nara stepped tentatively further into the house, glancing into various rooms, from the living room to the garden, before eventually coming to the conclusion that his parents were indeed out. Of course, this notion gave the boy a sensation of intense gratitude that his parent's would not know he had arrived late home.

Dashing upstairs, Shikamaru found his room quickly and shut the door behind him. Placing his bag on the floor beside his desk, Shikamaru plopped himself down on his bed and fell backwards onto his mattress with a quiet sigh. And, yes, while his parent's were out, which is a fairly uncommon occurrence in itself, he still had various obligations to fulfil –completing the day's homework and cleaning his room. The usual.

It could always wait a while, though.

The Nara found himself, yet again, without a source of motivation, which meant, being the natural born procrastinator that he is, he would take his time. Even if it probably meant an earful or so, so much more. Not to mention, he could not get Kiba out of his head.

Had he been too harsh? Not…really. It was better to push him away before both of them got hurt. Then again, Kiba's probably not gay, so, in the end, he would probably be the only one left with the aching heart. Shikamaru furrowed his brows, staring intensely up at the ceiling. He knew himself to be more attracted to members of the same gender and yet, was almost certain that he could not spot another gay for miles, even if he tried.

So why was Kiba different? Shikamaru tried not to think of it in the wrong way, but only because he was not certain of his assessment. Despite his indifference to most things, Shikamaru _always_ took notice of his feelings, even if others didn't, or couldn't. So, his feelings towards the other boy were just that – feelings, a nagging in the back of his mind, made up and placed there by a spout of boredom. But even though Shikamaru preferred to run on factual evidence, there were always feelings, always _other people_.

And, to top it off, his head still ached from the door incident at lunch.

It scared him how much the new guy in school had affected him so, and at that, just over the course of three days. Three _days_. God forbid he make it through the week. And…the look in his eyes – that _hurt_. It puzzled the genius to no end. It was simply incredible that he could even make someone feel that way, but at the same time, it unnerved him.

How could this boy, this _stranger_ hold him in such high regard, even with all those lies and rumours and _hate_ circulating all around him, take rejection so badly?

Perhaps, rejection wasn't the word. And if it wasn't, what was it, if any? Could there have been a word for his unintentionally intentional hurt. Because that was what it had been. Shikamaru very well did intend to hurt Inuzuka Kiba, to get the boy to leave him alone, yet, he hadn't meant it to hurt so much.

But at least it worked, right? At least he got away unscathed.

...Didn't he?

Shikamaru stood quickly from his bed, ignoring the aching of various bruises and growled in annoyance. What was _wrong_ with him?! Storming over to his desk, he swiped everything to the floor in a quick, fluid motion, breathing heavily. This was infuriating, unacceptable! This was…this was hard, and he…

And he was confused.

Leaning heavily onto the desk after his revelation, he allowed silent tears to slip down his cheeks, to fall, and land with a light tap onto the wooden table. Glancing to the side, he eyed the fallen materials on the floor dejectedly. He silently admitted to it being a bad decision, but he also had to admit it'd be a worse on not to pick them up. For the moment though, he willed himself not to care.

His eyes fell on the window in front of him. He watched his neighbour's oak tree as it swayed freely in the wind, his shoulders shaking with the force of unshed tears. He raised his arm, and bit down hard on his bunched up sleeve, trying and failing to hold back a sob. What was freedom? What did it mean for that tree to wave 'freely'? What _could_ it mean? He did not know. He could not remember.

Slowly, he found himself sliding to the floor, leaning heavily on one of the legs of his desk, his head resting painfully against one of many drawers. He drew his legs up to his chest and clung to them desperately. Shikamaru wept openly now, no longer possessing the strength within himself to do much of anything else.

If only they knew…if only he could tell them, someone, _anyone_. He prayed that, one day, he would find the strength to stop this, yet at the same time, he hoped he wouldn't have to. He knew what would happen if he told. He knew that if he did that, he would be taken from his parents and, more importantly, any chance of ever changing them. He also knew, that, no matter what anyone said, we could not ever stop loving his mother…or his father.

Shikamaru sniffled quietly, choking back a sob. They still kept him around, right? Even if they hated what he was _so much_, the simple fact that they hadn't truly given up on him, it must've meant something, right? Right? He whimpered shamelessly, running a hand through his pony tail. For now, he would wait. Come what may, he would try to change them, or, at the very least, appear to have changed himself.

Be it for himself or them…

**(A/N: I am SO SORRY it's taken so long to update. I had major Writer's block when it came to this thing! And, yes, it IS slightly shorter then usual, but, I hope I made up for it in the content. Also, I'm so sorry, this has taken so long to get finished, Kitsunecubby-chan. )**

((B/N: Dun listen tuh her kids! She's crazeh! Seriously though, this was my fault. I was the one that took forever, which will never happen again, I SWEAR. Although, I have no idea what she's talking about being too short. This thing was at least one page longer than usual when she sent it to me, and if THAT was too small, I've added two more. Here that boys and girls? I'm the one that makes you sit here reading for an extra half hour! D I'm so sorry…so, so sorry…))


	4. Asuma

Authors note: After a yonk and a half...here is the next chapter. Gosh, I'm sorry for the wait. I hope none of you have forgotten about this. I also hope I may have attracted some new readers! *Wishful thought number one* I also hope I've managed to keep the ones I do have vaguely interested! I must also apologise to my lovely BETA, who I know was extremely eager for the next chapter. I have taken a long time writing this chapter for a string of reason, the main ones being laziness, a lack of inspiration, confusion and life in general.

I like to stay at home! I don't know why people make me go outside.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, although if I did I'd make sure he knew how irritating he could be. I would also make Shikamaru the main character, despite my love for many other characters. He seems best-suited to the role. Not that it's going to happen. Naruto seems to lack the ability to die.

- - POVs - -

- - ','- - End POVs

I am Puppet;

Chapter four: Asuma

It had been a number of days since Shikamaru's argument with Kiba, and he hadn't seen hide nor hair of him since. They both refused to look at each other, even if they were in the same class as one another. Situations like that, much to Shikamaru's dismay, were unavoidable. Of course, they were not the only unavoidable things in Shikamaru's life. He could not avoid his parents, or his teachers or the snide remarks made by his bullies. Even the people who never used to give a damn either way what Shikamaru did with his time, were now giving him more than just a cold shoulder.

Two prime examples of this were Sasuke and Neji – both boys were irritated with Shikamaru's conduct in that classroom after they had been hauled in by Asuma-sensei. To them, Shikamaru was cold and ungrateful, which given his circumstances, they would have assumed him to be surprised and grateful that they would help at all. Shino didn't seem to mind at all, although Shikamaru knew better, practically when he began to notice the boy staring at him from time to time, his aura distinctly hostile, despite the fact no one could really see Shino's eyes.

Shikamaru was fine with that. It was Friday now, and the week was almost out. And what an awful week it had been. There was a new kid, who seemed to bring with him an excessively annoying amount of kindness, and an odd amount of concern which the Nara did not wish to deal with in the slightest. Then, of course, there was Deidara and his usual antagonistic behaviour. He was always with Sasori, or...was it that Sasori was always with Deidara. They had other friends, but they rarely seemed to hang out in one big group. They preferred to go off in pairs for whatever reason. They would always come together on Friday lunch times though.

It would be prudent now to explain the hierarchy of the student body within the school at this point, which is simple. First there were the cool kids; people like Uchiha Sasuke and his brother Itachi (despite his chosen group of friends, he still had quite the fan club) and Hyuuga Neji, Shino (although he was probably the least popular of the lot of them, given his somewhat quiet and...creepy nature) and of course, Inuzuka Kiba, who, while kind, was more or less a pain in the arse. To Shikamaru at least. He was always picking stupid fights with Naruto, who was another of the cool kids. Naruto always seemed to make friends with everyone, even Shikamaru sort of kind of liked him...begrudgingly. Not that he wanted to be friends, of course.

Next there were what the school called the resident bullies. Although, they were a tricky lot to put into that category. They were all mean, in their own way, although they didn't always show aggressive tendencies. They got on each other's nerves more than anything else, but they never really hurt one another, always the odd brawl wasn't unusual, especially when you put Hidan and Deidara and Itachi in the same room. The Uchiha never antagonised (although he mercilessly teased his brother a little less then kindly on the odd occasion). Deidara was volatile – like fireworks, and Hidan possessed a staggering amount of over-confidence. Most people thought that the guy though he was immortal or something. Although, if you knew he was religious, and what he worshipped, you might understand why. He often yelled about heathens and having the almighty Jashin 'bitch you up' as he liked to say. Then he would say something about Jashin cursing said heathens with mortality, forever depriving them of the divine right to serve under him.

It was an obscure religion for a reason.

Kakuzu was miserly, and he was also the schools resident bank. You could loan money from him, but he always expected his money back on time and with interest. Otherwise, you were in for a good old-fashioned beating. Most thought he'd make his life's ambition to be a Banker or a Gangster. Kisame, like Kakuzu looked like a brute, although he rarely raised a hand unless he deemed you worthy. He was, physically, probably the strongest of the group. He was on the running team, and the football team, and the wrestling team. That guy seemed to have boundless stamina. A scary thought. Imagine how tough you'd have to be to withstand a beating from that guy.

Then there was Sasori – a quiet guy with a glare that could silence even the most vicious of animals. Not to mention more then one Teacher felt extremely uncomfortable with him. He was extremely into his art, his inspiration came from woodwork, as opposed to Deidara who liked to work with something softer, and more pliable. Their artistic 'debates' often got very heated, considering that Sasori's fuse, seemed to be a lot shorter than Deidara's, despite the fact that he was quieter. Most people would say that was more menacing than the blond's loud threats. Then of course, came the only girl in the group. She, like Deidara and Sasori was an artistic sort, although she favoured origami. Something about her seemed to keep Sasori and Deidara from 'debating' her art with them. She was fast, she was on the girl's running team, and quite clever. She was very good at maths. Shikamaru himself sometimes wondered if that mathematical calculation ability she possessed could be carried over into other aspects of her life.

Her best friend was Pein – a man. A scary man, his face covered in piercings coupled with those piercing, unusual grey eyes made him both terrifying and...somehow attractive. He was the leader of the group, and often kept everyone in check. He rarely beat up anyone, let alone do it himself. Suffice it to say he had a very authoritative personality. He also seemed to be in possession of a one-track mind. Very determined, much like a certain Uchiha Sasuke. He was also politically-minded. His highest grades were in business, history. His grade in psychology was only beaten by Uchiha Itachi. Pein was...somewhat narrow-minded in some senses. He based his opinions of life-experience and as such, his opinions of certain matters were often set in stone.

Finally, comes the two last members of the group. Zetsu and Tobi. Zetsu was nice enough, although sometimes it was like he had a severe case of Schizophrenia. One minute he would be soft-spoken, and easy going, talking about his plants and his lessons in home-economics and the next he would be threatening and asking whether or not your flesh would be good enough for his collection of Venus Fly-traps. He wasn't a vegetarian, although most people thought he would be given his strange fascination with plants, but no. At luch, there was always something with meat sat in front of him. His friends' were used to his odd quirks. He was also kind of the care-taker of the group, hauling around Tobi and keeping the hyper-active guy in line. Nobody quite understood why he hung out with them, although they were afraid of him all the same. He seemed to have an affinity for blowing things up in Science. It had been spread around that Deidara always got pissed off. Something about stupid little accidents like that couldn't be considered art. But then, what did the blond consider art, if not his clay?

Tobi was scary for a reason. Maybe it was the way his tone would dip menacingly low if he was even the slightest bit upset?

Then there were the Cheer leaders, four of which you ought to watch out for. The first, was Haruno Sakura, pink-haired, smart, at least in the academic sense. She wasn't smart in the way she always let her mouth run away with her, though. By-and-large, though, she was utterly useless at anything other than throwing her arms about holding pompoms. Then, there was Yamanaka Ino, an arch-rival of Sakura's in the competition for Uchiha Sasuke's affection. She was boisterous, loud and had a tendency to tease everyone mercilessly. She also thought she was the most attractive thing to ever walk the planet. She knew a lot about flowers, and had once or twice held a conversation with Zetsu about them. She would always walk away when he got a little too creepy, though. The cheer-leaders and the cool kids could flit between clinks as they pleased, although they always came back together.

Then, there was Rock Lee. King of the sport-related activities...sadly including cheer-leading. He held a great admiration for Gai-sensei and his teaching methods and his support. Those two would be father and son if it hadn't been for the fact they shared a different gene pool. Rock Lee was on almost every sports-related team the school could hold, and even outside of school took lessons in the Brazilian Martial art of Capoeira. He was shockingly good, and had a number of awards for it. He was often seen to be in competition with Neji, who studied Karate, and a little bit of Judo. Sometimes, they would be allowed to spar with eachother in the gym. They always attracted quite a crowd. They'd both be jumping around like maniacs. Neji normally won. He seemed to have a firmer centre than Lee. But then, Capoeira was more about fluidity than a firm centre – but it required a tremendous amount of strength. But, finally, there was Tenten. She wasn't a particularly nice girl, although often she seemed civil. She didn't think much of Lee, but she was intelligent and had strength of her own. She was on the javelin and hot-put team, after all.

Then, there were the stragglers, like Shikamaru himself. They were the ones that got by as best they could. They were the ones that no-one knew how to approach, and they were the ones that people just weren't sure about at all. There was Chouji – a nice guy and a big-eater, but it was always wise to remember that he was big-boned and not fat. He was on the wrestling team, although he lacked the fighting-spirit. More often then not, he lost because of it. He was also Shikamaru's bestfriend, and he had been since that incident. He had befriended Shikamaru a short while after he had transferred schools. He didn't know anything about Shikamaru's situation, but he knew that Shikamaru wanted to keep their friendship secret from his parents. Shikamaru had said that his parents didn't want anyone distracting him from school work. So, the two didn't really hang out at all, not these days.

Then there was Gaara, whole a lot of girls found attractive, most other people were afraid of him, or simply uneasy around him. He was the strong silent type, certainly. He was also physically strong. He'd had a tough childhood. He'd suffered neglect as a child and extreme isolation. Gaara had said to Shikamaru once that it was because his mother had died giving birth to him that his father thought him a monster. His siblings were encouraged to stay away from him. Of course, that being said, over the years the siblings grew closer as Gaara's animosity and hostility towards them lessened. The three one them were a tight-knit group, there was barely any room for anyone else. That was who Gaara spent his time with when he wasn't protecting Shikamaru.

Gaara's siblings were Temari and Kankuro, neither of whom were fond of pussy-footing around subjects. They're the kind of people that would announce to the world that you'd had an affair with their respective boyfriend or girlfriend if they even suspected for a moment what was going on. They didn't seem to care what anyone thought about them, which is just like them, and Gaara, when you think about it. Perhaps it was a family trait of some sort. Temari herself possessed a sharp wit and an even sharper tongue, not to mention she could whip up one hell of a shit storm if you made her angry. Kankuro was not so much mild-mannered in comparison, but perhaps a little more outwardly aggressive, and maybe just a little bit hasty, but he was by no means stupid. He was protective of his family. Like Sasori he had a fascination with Puppets, but he looked at them more like tools than art. He was a practical sort of person.

Finally there was the sweet Hyuuga Hinata, the Student librarian. She was quiet and lacked in confidence. She had tried her hand at Judo and was reasonably good at it, although her reluctance to cause harm caused Neji to be more than a little mean to her. She practised a lot, but otherwise she liked quiet places. She also liked Naruto, and on the rare occasion he was in the Library, she could barely manage to speak a word without going red in the face...for many years. She's gotten better with that now, too.

She was nice and accommodating, smart, and skilled in a lot of subjects, although her lack of confidence could get on Shikamaru's nerves sometimes. But, she was something of a friend to him, and had been to his house once. His parents liked her, and his mother had been pleased for days. He hadn't invited her over for a while, but he was often in the library, either sleeping or keeping her company. She never asked questions...at least, not unless she was really concerned.

So, that's where he was now, in his seat behind the librarians desk, with Hinata's back to him as she checked out a student's book. He had his head in his arms and his eyes closed, mind elsewhere. It was blissful, to think of nothing for once.

- - Shikamaru - -

Well. Nothing except the people I go to school with, I thought to myself, brows furrowing slightly. Was it really so hard to leave my mind behind and drift off to sleep? But, when I think about it, I managed a good night's sleep last night, so maybe it's understandable that I'm not tired now. It's just annoying. I like sleeping. I managed to avoid my parents' wrath by doing all of my work when I got home, projects, homework, essays, and I even cleaned my room. I was just relieved when it was over that I could just lay on my bed and relax for once. I had fallen asleep like that – watching the painted cloud on the ceiling, imagining them drift across the sky. It was the only bit of my carefree childhood that I think still remains. I got rid of all my toys a long time ago, but the ceiling. It was just the same as it was.

_There were hands over his eyes, and a soft giggle sounded at his side. He'd been led to his room, although he didn't know why he wasn't allowed to see it. His mother had said it was a surprise. "Mum!" Shikamaru's little voice piped up finally, impatient as a youth can be "I wanna see!" there was more laughter when she stomped his little foot, from both his mother and father._

"Okay, sweetheart." his mother said, smiling softly lowering her hands from her son's eyes.

For a moment the boy was confused. His room looked exactly as it always had been and nothing had changed. He couldn't figure out for a moment why his room had been kept a secret if nothing had changed until he looked up. The ceiling! The ceiling had changed and he loved it! "Wow~" He said, big brown eyes blinking in wonder. There were clouds on the ceiling – painted of course, the soft blues of the sky and the gentle curvature of the clouds (artfully painted on using grey, silver and just a little bit of blue). To say the least, little Shikamaru was pleasantly surprised. He didn't stop _grinning for days afterwards._

Sighing I lay my forehead on the table, groaning softly to myself and proceed to hit my head lightly against the table for a few moments, trying to banish the invasive memory. "U-uhm...ano..." It kind of works, in the way that instead of getting rid of the memory, it attracted Hinata's attention which serves as a distract, so I guess in some convoluted way, my plan worked.

"Hai, Hinata?" I ask, swivelling in my seat to look at her, my forehead just a little bit red, but not enough that people would think I'd been hit in the face by a football or something. She's looking at me now and twiddling her fingers, searching for the words. I wait, resting my elbow on the table and placing my head in my hand.

"A-are you alright...?" she asked, all concern. She does this sometimes. It's fine and she's never intrusive with her questions. She knows when to stop. I said we were friends once, but...well, we're kind of friends, but we're not close. We're just sort of...like-minded. She liked the quest, I liked the quiet. I liked sleeping, she liked Naruto. I could sleep through whatever the hell Naruto was doing, so that works out well, I guess. If she would ever be able to approach him, then I might just join in to test whether or not Hinata is as much of a distraction to him as she needs to be to keep Naruto's heat off me.

When I say 'heat', I don't mean...ugh. Whatever. Anyway!

I realised after a moment that I'd stayed silent for just an instant to long, my far-off look unnerving Hinata slightly – evident in the way she looks a little sheepish an takes a small step backwards, waving her hand in front of my face a little, in that jittery way of hers. "O-oh, yeah." I say, coming back to myself. "I was just thinking about..." a sigh, feeling somehow lame "people..."

"Good thoughts..?" She asked, most likely because she couldn't think of anything else to day to me. But, that was a good question, regardless. Were they good thoughts? They hurt, to me. It wasn't a good pain either, but that memory was, and still is one of my most cherished. That day I'd felt like my parents were beginning to take notice of my interests. But then, saying that, after a while, there were some interests I wish they hadn't taken notice of at all. Not that...I'm interested. I'm not.

"Kind of.." I say, placating her curiosity. I couldn't think of anything else to respond to that. Well, I could've said a lot of things, but I really wouldn't want to do that. Not to Hinata. Not to anyone. After that, I smiled slightly – it felt strained and it probably looked it, given the expression on Hinata's face. Concern. Always concern. "Look, I'm gonna' go." I say standing.

"O-oh!" Hinata started, somewhat surprised, but she nodded "G-goodbye Shikamaru-kun." She bid me farewell and I waved over my shoulder at her briefly before quickly finding the door and stepping out into the hallway. It was still lunchtime, and so far, my day hasn't been insufferable. I got to through most of my classes _mostly_ without being harassed. Mostly. Of course, I can't escape everything.

That much became clear to me when I found I was coming face-to-face with my personal nightmare. Deidara and Sasori were coming towards me, heading I don't know where – probably the library, although that's the last place I'd expect to find Deidara. They weren't alone. With them was Hidan – he was talking to Deidara, loudly and using a lot of unnecessarily placed swear words. With him was Kakuzu, who looked somewhat pissed off, probably with Hidan. Sasori looked...impassive as usual...

Of all the days not to have Gaara around...

I sighed. It wasn't his fault. I found his Sister earlier in the day. Apparently Gaara's insomnia had caught up with him, and he'd crashed for the day. He might be in later, although I wouldn't brother myself, since I'd have missed most of the day anyway.

I keep walking, sticking to the side of the corridor as we move closer together. I want to pray that they'd leave me alone, but I know better.

Almost on cue, Deidara turns around, his blue eyes widening and a grin spreading across his face when he spots me. He opens his arms to me, as if offering to embrace me as he moves closer "Shikamaru~" He said, eyes narrowing slightly "...I haven't seen you all day." He stopped in front of me, putting his arms to his side, forcing me to stop as well. For a moment I close my eyes and take a breath. I was frustrated with this happening. It always happens.

"Boo for you." I say simply. Yay for me.

The rest of Deidara's friends stop. They're just watching for now. Hidan moves to place and arm on Kakuzu's shoulder, watching our interaction with interest. He's a little shorter than Kakuzu, so his arm looks awkward. Kakuzu just grunts and shoves the arm off. Hidan scoffs and mutters a kick "Ass."

"Fuck off." Kakuzu counters quickly.

Sasori hangs back a little behind Deidara, slightly off to one side. He doesn't look pleased to see me. Well, he never looks pleased, but this time He just looked more annoyed than usual "Deidara.." He muttered "I won't wait for this. Hurry up or I'm going ahead of you." Clearly he wasn't interested in terrorising me today. Although it's weird to hear Sasori talking to Deidara like that. Whatever he wasn't to do must be important to him.

"Well then," Deidara scowled, looking somewhat peeved. He seemed to paused for a moment and stepped forwards. I took an involuntary step back and he laughed, moving around me before shoving me violently into the nearby wall "made you flinch." With that he walked away followed by Hidan and Kakuzu. Hidan laughed. I don't know, and I don't care what Kakuzu thought.

I sucked in a breath on impact, and stood quietly, absorbing the pain. It took me a moment but when I opened my eyes, I realised that Sasori hadn't moved. He stared at me for a long while, and then opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted "Sasori! Shikamaru!" A new voice. I looked up, and coming from down the hall was Asuma-sensei. He was probably one of the more laid-back teachers in the school, evident in the way he walked. Slow and assured. A quiet confidence that came with knowledge. The mark of a good teacher, I always think. He always seems to know how to handle any situation.

"Asuma-sensei." I greet, finally pushing myself off the wall, trying my best to ignore Sasori, who turned to face the teacher but remained silent.

The teacher looked between the two of us, and then set his eyes on me "What's going on here, Shikamaru?" The question seemed simple, but I was caught. By his tone it sounded like he was being more than just a teacher trying to get to the bottom of something. I don't know what it was, but my throat seemed to tighten suddenly and I wanted to speak. I wanted to tell him just what was going on. But I couldn't open my mouth. "N-nothing." I say, cursing mentally at the crack in my voice when I forced words out of my mouth "Just...some rough-housing..." Normally I wouldn't bother with saying that sort of thing, but I figure it was the best way to distract him. "It was D-"

"Me." Sasori spouted suddenly. I jumped a little. I kind of forgot he existed for a second. "I pushed him."

At that, Asuma raised an eyebrow, watching the redhead "It was 'D-Sasori', was it?" He asked. He put a hand in his pocket, the hand wrapping around what appeared to be a small rectangular box. Probably his cigarettes.

"..." And the look on Sasori's face said he knew just how futile what he was doing was, but "..Yes." He did it anyway. I frowned. Deidara was his friend, yeah, but I've never seen Sasori take a punishment _for_ Deidara. I've seen him take them _with_ him, but that was about it. I wondered why he would bothered. For all he knew I could start pointing out that Sasori has never been one for bullying. Not really.

"Right.." Asuma said with a small sigh "...off you go, Sasori." For a moment, Sasori quirked a brow and then nodded, turning and walking away in the direction of the library. It seemed Asuma wasn't interested in punishing someone for an obvious lie. It also didn't seem like he was interested in finding the actual antagonist.

For a moment I watched Sasori go, the red-head turned to me for a moment, his hazel eyes met mine for a moment. They were narrowed slightly in one of the only gestures I've received off the guy that even resembles hostility. Before I could think more of the matter, his turns away and make his way back down the hallways, towards the library. Thinking on it, I'm really glad I got out of there when I did. Go me. Clearly I'm getting too used to their seemingly random appearances. Maybe I'm psychic or something.

I hear the clearing of a throat, and my head snaps around – Asuma-sensei! I'd forgotten he was there for a moment. I frowned at the thought. "Shikamaru.." My name was spoken by the elder male, his head was tilted slightly to one side and he had a hand rubbing at the top of his head. His tone was almost exasperated, but he wasn't angry. He sounded like he was tolerating a three-year-old's antics."You seem to be getting into a lot of trouble as of late.." He sighed, slightly.

I watch him for a moment, scoff and fold my arms over my chest before turning my gaze to the side "It's not like I ask for it." I say bluntly.

He seems to pause, and as I watch him out of the corner of my eye, he withholds a sigh of great proportions "Come with me, Shikamaru.." He said, his deep baritone was in no way imposing or oppressing. I didn't feel trapped by Asuma. Uh...Asuma-sensei. He gestures for me to follow him, and seeing no other option, I tag along after him, slowly, moving to shove my hands in my pockets. I wanted – no, needed this matter to stay out of my parent's notice.

"You know," Asuma started as we made our way down the hall. It didn't take long, because after a moment we were stood before the door of his classroom. It was a nice room, a thin cream carpet and plain white walls. It was a calm place to be, even if it could be considered boring. But hey, some people thought they were one and the same thing. "You don't make it easy for yourself, do you?" He asked somewhat rhetorically.

Tch. "Make what easy?" I retorted as he opened the door and ushered me inside the room, which I did without argument. I took a seat on a nearby table and waiting for Asuma to close the door and walk up to me.

"Helping you," He explained "obviously."

"Obviously" I said, looking off to the side and rolling my eyes. My hands clenched into fists where they rested on the edge of the table by my knees. I realised now that Asuma wanted me in here for more than just a chat about the minor incident in the hallway. "Maybe I don't need help."

My teacher frowned and said nothing for a moment. He didn't open his mouth until he'd finished fiddling with the pack of cigarettes in his pocket. He wanted one. "A number of teachers have expressed concern for you." He told me, and I frowned. I acknowledged that quite a bit of my torment as of late hasn't exactly been as discreet as it usually was. "Kurenai-Sensei told me what happened to you a few days ago."

"Did she." Not a question. More of a statement. I hadn't thought she'd keep it to herself.

"And I heard about the incident in the canteen." He continued.

"Hooray for you." I said sarcastically.

"Shikamaru."

"Yes?"

"You seem pissed." I told me shortly.

I blinked and frowned "Probably because I am." I told him, and he looked sympathetic. I supposed that would have been a good thing if I wanted pity. But you know what? I was fine. I could handle what was going on. I just needed to keep away from Kiba. He'd been nothing but trouble since the moment I met him and it's not getting any easier.

"We can punish your bullies, Shikamaru," Asuma told me pointedly. I knew they could, but Deidara was nothing if not persistent. If there was a battle he knew he could win, he'd never stop until he did. "But I want you to know that if anything else is the matter, you can come to me." He said and placed a hand on my shoulder. I twitched at the contact involuntarily and he withdrew his hand abruptly.

"Thanks." I say, hopping to my feet. "But nothing's wrong." I said and made my ways swiftly out of the classroom. I turned to close the door, and I noticed a look of deep concern cross Asuma's face. He looked thoughtful. But beyond that, I resolved to put it out of my mind as I left to head back towards the canteen. Gaara was hanging around in there. somewhere.

**(A/N: All right. I know I said soon in the preview, but my inspiration was shot xD So much later than soon implied *Jazz hands* voilà!**

...and I'm sorry.

I was not able to get a hold of my Beta. So, I do apologise for the inconsistency in the writing style.) 


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